Enough, if I review any further it will spoil this superb story and I really do honestly recommend you read this book but I would add that you will enjoy and benefit if you have read the previous books in the Tom Wilde series. Thomas Wilde is an American, and a History professor at Cambridge. He's focused on his students reaching their full potential, by questioning everything they come across. And he is determined not to let himself be swayed by any of the propaganda and the increasingly impassioned and volatile politics. Nucleus is the second novel in the Tom Wilde series by Rory Clements. The historical adventure starts up again with the follow-up to the debut novel in the series. I was particularly pleased to see Tom’s wife, Lydia, playing a prominent part in the story. She’s a woman trying to balance the responsibilities of motherhood with her ambition to become a doctor as well as battling to overcome the obstacles still in place for women wishing to pursue a career, in particular married women. Author Rory Clements is obviously best known for his John Shakespeare series and I will admit that, although I have meant to read those books for ages, I have not yet got around to doing so. However, when I discovered he had written a new novel, set in 1930’s Cambridge, I was keen to finally give this author a try and I was very impressed. Simply from the writing style, you can tell this is no debut novel – the author is obviously very accomplished and the writing style flows well.

As always with all this author’s books, I raced through it, most of the time sitting on the edge of my seat. Definitely an enjoyable and exciting read which I thoroughly enjoyed. Recommended! We did get to see more of Tom’s home life in this book, with his wife Lydia starting out in her career as a doctor away from the family home, which in turn brought new faces into his life that were clearly hiding things and you had to wonder what and why and if they were in on the plot to kill him. We begin in Berlin, August 1936. A young woman, called Nancy Hereward, is on a mission to deliver some false papers to a Jewish physicist. We then move to Cambridge – it is November 1936 and we meet our main character, the history professor, Tom Wilde. Tom lives next door to Lydia, who was friends with Nancy and also another woman named Margot. When Nancy is found dead, from a supposed drugs overdose, Tom finds himself offering Lydia support. Lydia does not believe that Nancy’s death was an accident and the pair find themselves embroiled in much more than the murder investigation of one woman. Not only am I a book geek, but I am also a history nerd. I find the Second World War particularly fascinating and I love to read books set during that time. I have a little confession to make. Although I have all of the previous books in the Tom Wilde series on my ever increasing 'to be read' mountain, I haven't actually got round to reading them yet...until now. Now I have discovered how fantastic a writer Rory is, I can guarantee that those books will not be on my 'TBR' mountain for that much longer. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Hitler's Secret' but more about that in a bit. I feel I need to start this review by admitting that I don’t generally read historical fiction as a genre, it’s just not something I have ever gotten into so when the opportunity arose to read and review Corpus as part of the blog tour, I threw caution to the wind and said why not!

Are you ready for an unbiased, impartial and unprejudiced review then sorry, I have to first of all say that I am a great fan of Rory Clement’s and I have either read or listened to all the previous Tom Wilde series of novels so my review will be that of a fan but also an honest appraisal. Lydia Morris is convinced that Nancy's death is not an accident and convinces history professor, Thomas Wilde, to look closer into the matter. Connections are seen in the gruesome murders of the Langleys which ostensibly seem to be committed by the forces of the left. Other murders take place and for Wilde it seems that there might be more to the events than the left being responsible. We encounter Spanish Gold, Nazis, conspiracies, White Russians, treachery, betrayal, double crosses and the Intelligence Agencies. Thomas and Lydia have to fight for their lives as danger comes to engulf them. Events culminate into a thrilling finale. I struggled with Corpus and eventual It's not the 'peace' Tom imagined. Many British Fascist and Nazi sympathisers have been released from internment at the close of the war, and Oswald Mosley is still around (I had no idea what became of him after the 1930s).

At the end of the book you'll notice Historical Notes with some very useful historical information concerning certain persons and institutions, who and that are involved in this story. Admittedly, it seemed a bit forced to be sending Wilde on this mission and in afterthought it could have been any new character set away from this series but if you get past that then there was plenty of excitement and suspense whilst trying to stay hidden in sight with those pesky Nazi’s snooping around every corner. Yes, yes, yes. Exactly right. This is what history teaches you. Work hard for your opinions, search, evaluate, criticise, look for more, ask who benefits, challenge every assumption. Do this every day. Not just what people are telling you, but WHY. Look beyond what you are given, seek what is being hidden. The author is the first to admit that he has a passion when it comes to thrillers. Rory says that he loves reading about men and women that face up to the ultimate test while they are under fire. This extends to enjoying writing about them, something that Rory chalks up to probably being in his blood.

If You Like Rory Clements Books, You’ll Love…

The conclusion of the previous book, The Man in the Bunker, saw Wilde involved in the defection of a Soviet intelligence officer and he harbours lingering doubts about the whole affair. Something just doesn’t seem quite right about it. He even begins to doubt those he has previously trusted. Some well known characters feature in the novel and they felt authentic in their actions and attitudes so it is clearly well researched. Early October 1945. Off the east coast of England, a Japanese submarine surfaces close to a deserted beach. Its mysterious cargo is unloaded and then afterwards it is blown up by its crew and all disappear into the depths of the North Sea. Quite a dramatic opening! The only problem is that Hitlers right hand man Martin Bormann is equally determined that that doesn’t happen. From the beginning this had the feel that you get from an accomplished author. The setting is England just prior to the second World War and I soon appreciated the amount of time that must have gone into discovering details about both the major and minor politicians and the detaile of that period in our history.