At some disputed barricade

With compelling immediacy, Anne Perry depicts the struggles of men and women torn by their convictions and challenged by the perils of World War I. July 1917. Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister, Judith, an ambulance driver, are weary as they approach the fourth year of the conflict. When members of Joseph's regiment murder their incompetent commanding officer, Joseph would like to turn a blind eye but can't. Judith, anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions for the twelve men arrested for a crime she felt was justified to prevent further casualties, risks her own life to help the prisoners escape. In England, Joseph and Judith's brother, Mattew, pursues the sinister figure known as the Peacemaker - as obsessed genius who has committed murder and treason in an attempt to stop Britain from winning the war. As Joseph tracks his escaped comrades through Switzerland and into enemy territory, his search will lead to a reckoning pitting courage and honor against the blind machinery of military justice.