The Historians

Book excerpt: The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during World War II It is 1943 and Sweden's neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, a bright young historian who is the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany, is privy to ongoing discussions about the transport of German soldiers to occupied Norway and German access to Swedish iron ore. When Laura finds out that Britta, her former best friend and fellow classmate, has been murdered in cold blood, she is determined to find the killer. Laura learns that Britta had sent a report on racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. Jens, who is in the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, doesn't understand why he has received the report. When the pursuit of Britta's murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to discover the truth. But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstances surrounding Britta's death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail eventually leads them to a shocking revelation, a conspiracy that could topple their nation's identity--a conspiracy some elements in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.