Hour of the Cat - (Fintan Dunne Trilogy) by Peter Quinn (Paperback)

About the Book

A simple New York City homicide, indistinguishable from hundreds of others in 1938: a spinster nurse is killed in her apartment, a suspect is caught and convicted. Fintan Dunne, the P.I. lured into the case and coerced by conscience into unraveling the complex setup that has landed an innocent man on Death Row, will soon find this is a murder with tentacles that stretch far beyond the crime scene ... to Nazi Germany, in fact. Following it to the end leads him into a murder conspiracy of a scope that defies imagination." Grim clouds are roiling over Berlin, where plans for a coup are secretly forming among a cadre of Wehrmacht officers. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of Military Intelligence, is gripped by paralysis over the choice he must make: join the plotters and violate every value he holds as an officer, or betray them to the Gestapo and forsake the country's last hope to avert utter destruction and shame. With no limits to Hitler's manic pursuit of territorial expansion, with crimes against his people lauded as a program of racial cleansing at the vanguard of the eugenics movement launched in the United States and Britain, the "Hour of the Cat" looms when every German conscience must make a choice. When Canaris receives an order to assist in a sinister covert operation on foreign shores, his hour has come.

Book Synopsis

It's just another murder, one of the hundreds of simple homicides in 1939: A spinster nurse is killed in her apartment; a suspect is caught with the murder weapon and convicted. Fintan Dunne, the P.I. lured onto the case and coerced by conscience into unraveling the complex setup that has put an innocent man on Death Row, will soon find that this is a murder with tentacles which stretch far beyond the crime scene . . . to Nazi Germany, in fact; following it to the end leads him into a murder conspiracy of a scope that defies imagination. The same clouds are rolling over Berlin, where plans for a military coup are forming among a cadre of Wehrmacht officers. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Military Intelligence, is gripped by a deadly paralysis: He is neither with the plotters nor against them. Joining them in treason would violate every value he holds as an officer. Betraying the plotters to the Gestapo Chief, Reinhard Heydrich, might just forsake the country's last hope to avert utter destruction and centuries of shame. Heydrich is suspicious. With no limits to Hitler's manic pursuit of territorial expansion, with crimes against the people candy-coated as racial purification, the "hour of the cat" looms when every German conscience must make a choice. When Canaris receives an order to assist in a sinister covert operation on foreign shores, his hour has come. Hour of the Cat is a stunning achievement: tautly suspenseful, hauntingly memorable, and brilliantly authentic.

Review Quotes

Noir to the core... Smart and evocative.-- "Minneapolis Star-Tribune"

Hour of the Cat is the hour of Peter Quinn's genius. It's been said a million times but I'll say it again: I couldn't put it down.-- "Frank McCourt"

A chilling history lesson wrapped in a murder mystery... It is the best kind of historical novel, driven by memorable characters, a suspenseful plot, and real-life questions.-- "USA Today"

The pacing is tight, the descriptions of New York in the 1930s rich, the characters engaging, and the dialogue pitch perfect. Only a churl could resist.-- "Boston Globe"

About the Author

Peter Quinn is a novelist, political historian, and foremost chronicler of New York City. He is the author of Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America and a trilogy of historical detective novels.