{"product_id":"9780062859860","title":"Cruel Deception, A","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“As always, Todd’s intense feelings for the traumatized survivors of war make one mother’s son the broken hero of an entire generation of lost souls.”  \u003c\/strong\u003e— \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn the aftermath of World War I, English nurse \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBess Crawford attempts to save a troubled officer \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003efrom a mysterious killer in this eleventh book in \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ethe acclaimed Bess Crawford mystery series.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Armistice of November 1918 ended the fighting, but the\u003cbr\u003eGreat War will not be over until a Peace Treaty is drawn up and signed by all\u003cbr\u003eparties involved. Representatives from the Allies are gathering in Paris, and\u003cbr\u003ealready ominous signs of disagreement have appeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSister Bess Crawford, who has been working with the severely\u003cbr\u003ewounded in England in the war’s wake, is asked to carry out a personal mission\u003cbr\u003ein Paris for a Matron at the London headquarters of The Queen Alexandra’s. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBess is facing decisions about her own future, even as she\u003cbr\u003esearches for Lawrence Minton. When she finally locates him, instead of the\u003cbr\u003eintelligent, ambitious officer she expects, she finds a bitter and disturbed\u003cbr\u003eman who has abdicated his duties at the Peace Conference and is well on his way\u003cbr\u003etoward an addiction to opiates. Indeed, he tells her that he doesn’t care if he\u003cbr\u003elives or dies, he only wants oblivion. But what has changed him? What is it\u003cbr\u003ethat haunts him? It seems the truth is buried so deep in his mind that he can\u003cbr\u003eonly relive it in wild nightmares. When Minton goes missing, bent on suicide,\u003cbr\u003eBess must race to unlock his past before he succeeds. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReluctant to trust an officer in Minton’s regiment, a man\u003cbr\u003ewith secrets of his own, and uncertain of the loyalties of Matron’s friends in\u003cbr\u003eParis, Bess must rely on her own instincts and experience—and sometimes in\u003cbr\u003edesperation on a stranger who claims he never met Minton. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCould whatever happened to Minton in Paris somehow be\u003cbr\u003econnected to his war? And why did he not kill Bess when he had the chance—then\u003cbr\u003elater, viciously attack her without warning? What is destroying Lieutenant\u003cbr\u003eMinton? \u003cem\u003eOr is it who?\u003c\/em\u003e And what horror will she have to confront, if she\u003cbr\u003eis to save him?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this, the eleventh novel in the award-winning Bess\u003cbr\u003eCrawford series, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author Charles Todd delivers\u003cbr\u003ea rich and atmospheric portrait that illuminates the cost of war on human lives—the\u003cbr\u003elingering pain and horror that no peace, no matter how earned, can assuage.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Charles Todd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46908421734549,"sku":"9780062859860","price":16.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780062859860_108cc6ce-d5aa-4854-9d56-a3b4e09b1ecf.jpg?v=1776889789","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780062859860","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}