Thrillers & Suspense
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The Night Gate
**THE BRAND-NEW THRILLER FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**
**"AN AUTHOR I'D FOLLOW TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH"- THE NEW YORK TIMES**
**PETER MAY: OVER 5.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE**
In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree.
A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house.
The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart.
Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo Macleod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter. Two extraordinary narratives are set in train - one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown.
And Enzo's investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders - the Mona Lisa.
Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world's most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Pignal finds herself swept along by the tide of history. Following in the wake of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa as it is moved from château to château by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons - Hitler and Göring.
What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades.
Events that have led to both killings.
The Night Gate spans three generations, taking us from war-torn London, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Berlin and Vichy France, to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020. In his latest novel, Peter May shows why he is one of the great contemporary writers of crime fiction.
**"AN AUTHOR I'D FOLLOW TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH"- THE NEW YORK TIMES**
**PETER MAY: OVER 5.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE**
In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree.
A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house.
The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart.
Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo Macleod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter. Two extraordinary narratives are set in train - one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown.
And Enzo's investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders - the Mona Lisa.
Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world's most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Pignal finds herself swept along by the tide of history. Following in the wake of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa as it is moved from château to château by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons - Hitler and Göring.
What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades.
Events that have led to both killings.
The Night Gate spans three generations, taking us from war-torn London, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Berlin and Vichy France, to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020. In his latest novel, Peter May shows why he is one of the great contemporary writers of crime fiction.
Readers Top Reviews
Jim Bowen Joan CAn
I’m sorry. If ever there is proof that you should read the reviews before buying the book, this would be it. In this book, Enzo, the retired Scottish forensic scientist living in the south of France, gets drawn into two suspicious deaths, one from World War II, one obviously more local. Are they linked? Only Enzo is clever enough to work it out. I read a lot of mysteries, and this has to be one of the worst. Mysteries typically lie on axes that lie between old and new, urban and country house, scientific, and not so much, and high and low brow. This is newish, country-houseish, scientific, and wanting to be high-browish it’s scary. This might be part of the problem. It doesn’t still well in either category, flitting between the 2 ends of the spectrum pretty regularly. You can’t get into one, before it switches to the other. In addition, I don’t know if you’ve read any Robert Wilson, but he does high brow mysteries quite well. I’ve read books where he pulls off the balance between old and new, really well too. Having read a few of Wilson’s books, this book strikes me as desperate to be like that, but failing. Badly. The result of all this is that you’ll end up feeling meh about the book. The chopping and changing. The failed attempt at high-brow, and not being able to juggle between the old and new left me not caring. To make matter worse, it’s obvious who the murderer was, so it wasn’t gripping on that front either.
Martin Hrazdira
I didn't expect the Enzo's serie will continue so I was really surprised when the book appeared on Amazon. I've enjoyed the novel the same way as all the serie. Starting slowly, ending surprisingly and dramatically. I was afraid the Mona Lisa plot will be boring as often is but I was wrong. Must have piece for Peter May fans.
Virginia Wallace
I love Peter Mays books and have now read all of them except his very first, The Reporter. I cannot find a copy or digital print of it anywhere. Mays writing is descriptive and one feels as if you are there with the characters. I’m sorry that this is the last of the Enzo investigations because I love this character and hate to think that there will be no more stories of him. But I do hope May writes more books!
JeannineBeeHenry E.
I have read all of May's Shetland books a d the Enzo books. I usually enjoy his books.This book is 95% historical mystery about the fate of the Mona Lisa during WWII and 5% - if that - of Enzo and the familiar cast of characters. The author threw in a few COVID references that weren't needed.
Séamas
An excellent book by Peter May and the return of his character Enzo MacLeod. The story is about the Mona Lisa and other great works of art that were saved by the French from landing in Nazi hands, Hitler and Goring both after the masterpiece. From war-torn France during WWII and the current state of affairs, COVID and all. Reading the book it was great to be among Enzo and his extended family. Many of the characters were real and some of the events as well. I hope that we'll be seeing MacLeod's name in forthcoming books. Highly recommend!
