Rachel Reviews: The Age of Treachery by Gavin Scott

The Age of Treachery is a book which is many things in terms of genre as my snippet explains. Duncan Forrester is our protagonist, a university fellow at Oxford who is settling into life post-war when a colleague is killed and Forrester takes it upon himself to uncover the perpetrator of the crime. This gains greater importance when Forrester's friend is implicated for the murder and out of a sense of friendship as well as personal guilt, Forrester is compelled to help him.

Scott's book is set in the traditional world of academia at the end of the Second World War when the wider world is still reeling at the loss and toll that war has taken. It's a big old mess and there is the idea that whilst the immediate threat of Hitler has been resolved, the question of who fills the void left by him is one which is malingering and that it is too important a thing to be left to chance.

With this as background, Forrester starts to delve and discovers that this may not just be a simple murder prompted by jealousy or bad feeling: there may be more to it with a wider-arching reach than he first thought. Scott gives us lots of different options as to why Lyell was targeted and is expert at taking us down various paths to explore, which we follow gamely as Forrester and his student, Harrison, meet suspects and theorise about who may have been responsible.

Investigation and discovery takes Forrester out of Britain to both Germany and Norway, and with the studying of ancient Norse manuscripts, lends the narrative a mystical air, reinforced by the mention of both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In fact, these are just two of the famous names who crop up during the course of the book; others include most notably Ian Fleming, which ties in nicely with Forrester's past. I liked this and found it quirky, enough to prompt a wry smile.

Despite the bookish nature of where the murder takes place, the sense of unseen machinations and post-war posturing adds an extra layer of dark danger, increased because of Forrester having been a special agent. Suggestions are made of what he has seen, what he knows and what he has dealt with previously.

It leads to a satisfying and dramatic conclusion and presents the idea of what the second book holds.

Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars

This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery:

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