Rooms in the City — Nicholas Hasluck

Athens, November 1915. A city buffeted by the chaos of the war, a city swarming with spies and opportunists. When a British counter espionage unit is contacted by a man from Smyrna, it seems that a bold new plan is afoot to cut through the Turkish defences at nearby Gallipoli ... until the finding of the man's body in a room set aside for the meeting. Australian-born agent Robert Kaub is drawn into the investigation, and soon forced to confront memories of love and betrayal in pre-war Athens. An ominous note, an old coin from Ephesus, cryptic cables - Robert's discoveries bring him eventually to a place where things could go either way for the Allied cause. Aegean battlefields. A besieged city. Deaths foretold. These are mirrored in a mystery shaped by the ill-fated attempt to capture Constantinople, a story tinted by the truths and untruths of war, a tragic tale akin to myth. Nicholas Hasluck practised law in Perth for many years while turning his hand to literary works in various genres. His novel The Bellarmine Jug won The Age Book of the Year Award and he has been twice short-listed for the Miles Franklin Prize. He has served as Chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council and of the Commonwealth Writers Prize.