Double Stakes – check out Alison Morton’s latest release

Anyone who is a frequent visitor to this blog knows I am a big fan of Alison Morton’s Roma Nova series – alternate history at its best, IMO. Since some years back, I am also a fan of her present-day dynamic duo, Mel and Jeff. With very different backgrounds, theirs is a story that does not exactly start with violets and roses, but as the professional respect between them grows, so does something else *sighs happily* .

Today, Alison is a dear guest on my blog with a guest post related to the most recent Mel and Jeff thriller, Double Stakes. And yes, I ahve read it, so further down you will find my review! But first, I give you Alison!

Does politics make the writer’s world go round?

Ah, politics. Current lives and history are riddled with it. Whether it’s about bin collection, potholes, elections or declarations of war, it’s part of human life. Earlier this month, we celebrated Victory in Europe Day when a fascist regime was finally defeated. Millions of lives were lost, countries devastated and futures ruined. Displaced people across Europe wondered where their next meal would come from and if they made the effort to go back there whether their home or even their country would still exist.

I was moved by stories of veterans now very nearly 100 years old; some were military, others suffered from occupation, others resisted. And we should not overlook the children and grandchildren appalled by parents and grandparents who supported the other side.

However, new forums were established to promote peace and the democratic spirit among nations, new relief, welfare and investment programmes initiated and former enemies set up agreements to promote their economies, culture and society. ‘Never again’ became the watchword of the post-war world. Sadly, it has happened again in Europe, but the default reaction is to stop it with every effort possible and negotiate. But some dictators don’t want to stop war as it feeds their egos and delusions.

Education, opportunities and cooperation should be the way to promote understanding of others and prevent nationalist dictators arising. In our interconnected world, while there is room for patriotism, there is none for isolationist nationalism. Now we are starting to see nationalistic, antisemitic and racist politicians gaining footholds by using the democratic political process. They are picking at people’s fears, manipulating their worst nightmares, frightening them into voting for extremes. It has little to do with rationality or working for the good of their country’s people, but more with power hunger and the desire to accumulate wealth.

The danger is that many people are busy in their own lives and don’t see the corrupt intent behind such rhetoric. Many don’t vote, declaring that they can’t be bothered. They live in a prosperous, safe society, however bumpy it seems at times, but believe me, life in Europe is multiple times more comfortable and open than anywhere else. Moreover, there has been no all-encompassing war in Europe for over seventy years – nearly three generations. Perhaps in our relative prosperity and complex lives we have become complaisant, even lazy.

I belong to the generation born of parents who endured the Second World War. My father, a reservist in the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) was called up in September 1939, went to France in 1940 with the British Expeditionary Force and was evacuated from Dunkirk. On that beach, the medical staff had to draw straws to decide who would be evacuated by the Royal Navy and who would stay with the wounded and thus go into captivity by the Nazis. Grim choice. Luckily, he drew a long straw.

He returned to France in June 1944 as part of the RAMC. And later he went into Germany and saw the horrors of the camps. Like many of his generation, he repeated  ‘never again’ whenever he spoke about the war, which wasn’t often. He knew fascism when he saw it and regarded the post-war rise of the NPD in Germany and the Front National in France with a great deal of trepidation. He thought six years of total war would have settled the matter.

Unfortunately, it seems not.

When I wrote INSURRECTIO in my Roma Nova series, I used the Third Reich as a pattern for the oppressive and corrupt regime introduced by Caius Tellus – a charming amoral populist and manipulator. But Donald Trump was campaigning for president of the United States for the first time and many reviewers drew parallels between some of the things he said and the way he said them with Caius’s values and speeches in INSURRECTIO. I was surprised by readers’ reactions at the time, but now those reviews seem prescient.

When I started drafting my new European thriller, I was only too aware of the overt rise of the new extreme right. Like many writers before me, I cannot ignore the atmosphere of my time.  My Doubles series feature Mélisende, a Franco-British ex-soldier who now works for a European agency which ‘fixes ripples’ in society. Interplay between the characters, especially between Mel and her partner, ex-Inspector Jeff McCracken, and a fast-paced storyline are essential but each novel contains a deeper message.

The first, Double Identity, dealt with trust. Poor Mel was betrayed in the worst possible way. Double Pursuit followed and vengeance was the plate on the table mixed in with organised crime, heartache and the dread of facing fear.

Double Stakes is both personal and political, written against the rise of far-right ideologies appealing to people’s fears and emotional vulnerabilities. It looks at manipulation, kidnapping and the divisions in societies exploited by extremist politicians. This is a particularly live issue in Germany – a country dear to me as is France where I live. Despite (or perhaps because of) reunification, investment and political will, it’s still facing its unresolved inheritance from the end of the Second World War.

Double Stakes contains much banter, many serious discussions, a great deal of hard work and some wine drinking, but the threat of extremism is all around. Even the strongest and most competent characters struggle to keep it at bay. And its irrational and oppressive tentacles are poised ready to invade all our homes.

Anna says: Thank you, Alison, for this thought-provoking post. I think you are right: people have become complaisant–but also more entitled, which makes very fertile ground for populists. One of my former bosses once said that “democracy is a right each generation has to win for itself”. I fear we are entering an age where some generations will not find it worthwhile to fight–until it is too late. . .

So, what did I think of Double Stakes?

Melisende des Pittones accustomed to violence, but it is totally different when her family—more specifically her mother—is threatened. This is personal, and Mel is not about to let anyone hurt her people—except that she is abruptly called back to her job by her boss. While he understands Mel’s concern and desire to focus on her family, she has a job to do—specifically investigating the kidnapping of Emma, daughter to a leading German politician.

Where Mel goes, there go Jeff, and together they will navigate their way through an increasingly complex plot, one in which political aspirations go hand-in-hand with violence—and blackmail.

Ms Morton spins a gripping—and sadly, very believable—story. Xenophobia raises its ugly head throughout the narrative, be it in the discrimination of a capable police officer of Turkish descent or the political theories of “racial purity” spouted by the very right-wing antagonists. Set against a vividly depicted background of Berlin, Dresden and the Saxony Switzerland National Park (and yes, I had to look it up to ensure such a thing existed) Double Stakes is a high-pace story that is almost impossible to put down.

I have developed a strong fondness for Mel, who is one of those people who prefers doing to talking—hence making her rather impatient. Mel’s family has ancient roots and ancient wealth, and Ms Morton has given her the perfect foil (and partner) in Jeff, the rough-and-ready working class lad who has become a very capable police officer. They have each other’s back, those two, both professionally and privately.

One elegant plot-twist after the other have things coming  to a head and how Mel and Jeff sort this tangled web I leave to future readers to find out for themselves. Warmly recommended – an absolutely captivating read.

Blurb for Double Stakes

A kidnapped daughter. A rigged election. A family under siege.

Former French special forces intelligence analyst Mélisende is desperate for recovery time after a gruelling mission. But when enforcers attack her family home in rural France, she uncovers a shocking truth – her sister-in-law’s gambling debt has put them all in danger.

Before Mel can untangle the crisis, she is ordered to Germany, where the daughter of Achim Nessler – the front-runner for chancellor – has been abducted. The kidnappers’ goal? To force Nessler to throw the upcoming election, paving the way for a hard-right victory that could upend not just Germany, but all of Europe.

Racing against time, Mel and fellow investigator Jeff McCracken dive into the murky world of extremist politics where old wounds and new betrayals collide. But as their hunt leads them deep into eastern Germany’s shadows, Mel discovers a chilling link between the case and her own family’s troubles.

Now, with both a nation’s future and her loved ones at stake, Mel must risk everything to stop a conspiracy that hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

Double Stakes is the third in the Mélisende Doubles thriller series

 Buying links for Double Stakes

Ebook – all digital retailers: https://books2read.com/DoubleStakes

Paperback: https://www.alison-morton.com/where-to-buy-double-stakes/ (as links become available)

Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. She lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her latest three contemporary thrillers, Double Identity, Double Pursuit and Double Stakes.

Her eleven-book Roma Nova thriller series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue.

Six years’ military service, a fascinating with ancient Rome and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction have inspired her writing. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.

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