'[an]enviable ability to land his readers in an alien world, yet make them feel entirely at home.

'in Sansom's capable hands, story, characters and that indefinable spirit of place meld and twist into a narrative that grips'

'his bleak winter thriller chills to the bone'

'The history is always good and vividly recounted, the characters solid and believable.'

'Few authors have the ability, or capacity for research, which allows them to capture...a period in history... as CJ Sansom'

'Not since Robert Harris...have I come across a writer who captures the mood of an era so succinctly and graphically.

'Highly recommended.'

'atmospheric and impeccably researched'

The haunting new stand-alone novel from the author of Dark
Fire.
1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people
starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe.
Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon
neutrality and enter the war.
Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatised veteran of
Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain
the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid
businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game - and
surrounded by memories. Meanwhile Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse
Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own - to find her
former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International
Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.
In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an
intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history
unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible choices.
`Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga
together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters
with satisfying precision' - Independent.

Harry felt ...panic beginning to stir. The thought of going back to Spain both excited and appalled him ...a world of denunciations and midnight arrests. And Sandy Forsyth in the middle of it all? He looked at the photo again. 'I'm not sure,' he said slowly. 'I mean, I'm not sure I could carry it off.' It is 1940 and the Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. And as Britain stands alone, General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war. Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: ex-public schoolboy, traumatised veteran of Dunkirk and, now, reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of Sandy Forsyth, an old schoolfriend turned shady Madrid businessman, he finds himself involved in a dangerous game - and surrounded by memories. Meanwhile Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own - to find her former lover Bernie Piper, whose passion for the Communist cause led him into the International Brigades, and who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.

In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, "Winter in Madrid" is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible choices.

2008-08-18 stodgy and disappointing

Having an interest in the Spanish civil war and liking crime novels, i thought this would be just right, but found it all wrong.Yet another book that relies, in the plot, on improbable coincidences that feel like a deception, an easy way out. Life in postwar Madrid does not seem real, although it may be well-researched. The writing is overblown - too many adjectives, too many unnecessary awkward details: (his eyes went flickering over the desk...)and the characters talk in a kind of brief-encounter-speak, which soon palls. Worst of all, there is no real pace in the book, or drive to find out what is going to happen next to the uninteresting characters. The reviews quoted on the cover are baffling, and just show that you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers...