When the Germans Come

In 1940, the people of Dover, England await a Nazi invasion while suspecting that Hitler's agents may already be present in their town. Canadian journalist Jessica Marshall reports from Dover as the town faces the threat of German attack, though her stories fail to reach publication. Louis Renard, a former Scotland Yard detective recovering from wounds sustained at Dunkirk, works at Dover's understaffed police station. When a dancer is discovered murdered in a secret underground bunker, Renard pursues the investigation despite pressure to ignore it. Marshall, sensing a significant story, becomes involved in the case. As Renard investigates the victim's background and Marshall is drawn into a dangerous scheme, the threat of invasion intensifies. The novel combines a murder mystery with an exploration of wartime England during the period when German forces gathered across the Channel, threatening the nation's survival.