The Nazi’s Wife
By Peter Watson
Has the hunter now become the prey?
In the aftermath of the Third Reich a tense cat-and-mouse game is played out between two men and a woman. At the centre of a complex triangle of love and deception is a hoard of gold coins – looted by the Nazis from the monasteries and museums of occupied Europe.
Based on a true story, The Nazi’s Wife powerfully evokes the edgy post-war atmosphere of intrigue and suspicion. Following the German surrender, Walter Wolff, an officer in the US Army’s art recovery unit, is assigned to track down the priceless treasure which may be helping to finance the escape plans of high-ranking Nazi officials.
Wolff sets out in pursuit of Rudolf von Zell, Bormann’s right-hand man last in possession of the coins. His only lead is von Zell’s beautiful, enigmatic wife Konstanze. But as Wolff carefully works towards winning her trust, he finds himself falling in love; and as the relationship and the pressure to fulfil his mission intensify, a desperate battle of wills – and hearts – ensues. Has the hunter now become the prey?
From stark military offices to lush European landscapes and isolated mountain retreats, The Nazi’s Wife is high-powered espionage fiction at its best, filled with suspense, adventure and the moving drama of wartime relationships.
Peter Watson was for many years a journalist on the staffs of The Sunday Times , The Times and Observer . In 1982, after disguising himself as an art dealer, he exposed a gang of art smugglers who were stealing old master paintings in Italy and selling them in New York and London. The courier of the gang was a Roman Catholic priest attached to the Vatican’s mission to the United Nations. Watson’s account of the adventure, published in Britain as Double Dealer and in America as The Caravaggio Conspiracy , won a Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writer’s Association. The BBC TV film of the book was nominated for an Emmy. He lives in London where his recreations are opera, fishing and cricket.
