The Paris Collaborator by A.W. Hammond

Publisher's Synopsis

He'll do anything to save her… even work for the enemy.

August, 1944. In German-occupied Paris, former schoolteacher Auguste Duchene has stumbled upon an unusual way to survive: he finds missing people. When he's approached by the French Resistance to locate a missing priest – and a cache of stolen weapons – Duchene initially refuses. But the Resistance offer him no choice. Within hours, he's also blackmailed by a powerful Nazi into searching for a German soldier who's suspected of deserting.

To fail at either task will have deadly consequences for Duchene – and for his daughter Marienne.

So begins a frantic race against time. As forces close in on Paris, Duchene has only 48 hours to locate the missing priest and soldier, or lose the only person he loves…

My Review of The Paris Collaborator by A.W. Hammond

Set in Paris, The Paris Collaborator is a story that begins a few days before the Liberation of Paris commences in 1944. The place is in turmoil, the Germans are feeling the pressure of the American forces bearing down on the city and the French Resistance is gaining strength and becoming more active.

In this setting we meet Auguste Duchene who has a talent for finding missing people. It’s a skill that has enabled him to earn just enough in cognac and cigarettes to be able to trade for essentials such as food and heating. But it’s also a skill that has come to the attention of both the Resistance and the occupying German forces.

A cell of the Resistance orders Duchene to locate a local priest who has gone missing from his church. Also missing is a cache of weapons that were being hidden within the church’s catacombs. He has a mere forty eight hours to locate the priest and, more importantly, the weapons.

He no sooner embarks on his mission when a high ranking German officer makes a similar demand. He has been given the same time frame, forty eight hours, to locate a missing German soldier who is under suspicion of desertion. He must locate this soldier and bring him back to the officer or else Duchene’s daughter’s life is at stake.

A further fly in the ointment of what appears to be an already difficult couple of tasks is the Gestapo who intercept Duchene on the streets. The Gestapo is aware of his mission to find the German soldier and demand that they be informed of his progress at all times. But they’re not particularly subtle about their methods and are constantly present wherever he goes, marking him as a potential collaborator and making life extremely difficult.

Hammond captured the mood of the time period perfectly, providing a deep sense of tension and turmoil on the streets of Paris. It added to an overall feeling of chaos in which his characters were expected to operate. There is no denying that there was a strong sense of self-preservation going on from all sides and Duchene’s progress as an effective investigator can’t be understated.

By necessity, given the terribly restrictive time pressures imposed on the investigation, this is extremely fast-paced, moving from one dangerous situation to the next. There is also a constant feeling of ever-present danger thanks to the perception that Duchene is working with the enemy.

As the investigation reaches its climax and Paris is in the process of being freed, the plot twists prove to be challenging and gut-wrenching, something that I was not expecting but was very appreciative of. I don’t find myself reading very many historical mystery thrillers but I was impressed with the fully immersive experience provided in The Paris Collaborator.