In 1914, the serene city of Hobart is almost as far as it is possible to be from the war clouds that have gathered over Europe, as the kings and emperors of waning European powers seek to extend nineteenth century military and political ideas into a mechanised technological new century.

Australia is a modern country, by comparison. Women have had the vote since the turn of the century and ancient European notions of a ruling class are regarded almost with derision. Nevertheless, young men are rushing to enlist for the ‘adventure’ of World War I – as much as for ‘King and Country.’

To a respectable Hobart family a gift box is delivered. It is a lethal bomb that kills or maims several family members. This act of extreme violence leads to a story of murders and intrigues that take the reader on a compelling journey through the battlefields of Europe to a final reckoning back home in Australia.

Tasmanian master storyteller, Craig Godfrey engages the reader from the opening scenes to the denouement…