What should you do if the world has turned against you? When Father Anselm is asked this question by an old man at Larkwood Priory, his response, to claim sanctuary, is to have greater resonance than he could ever have imagined. For that evening the old man returns, demanding the protection of the church. His name is Eduard Schwermann and he is wanted by the police as a suspected war criminal.
With her life running out, Agnes Aubret feels it is time to unburden to her granddaughter Lucy the secrets she has been carrying for so long. Fifty years earlier, Agnes had been living in Occupied Paris, a member of a small group risking their lives to smuggle Jewish children to safety - until they were exposed by a young SS Officer: Eduard Schwermann.
As Anselm attempts to uncover Schwermann's past, and as Lucy's search into her grandmother's history continues, their investigations dovetail to reveal a remarkable story.
'Brodrick keeps the story going at a cracking pace, flitting back and forth between its various elements, characters and eras with timing so expert the reader is compelled to keep turning the pages' Time Out

A highly promising, extraordinarily intelligent debut thriller about war, stolen identity and the nature of betrayal.

About the Author
William Brodrick was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1960. Aged ten the family moved first to Australia and then Canada. He studied philosophy, theology and law, worked with homeless people in London, and then became a barrister, joining a set of chambers in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He is the author of six Father Anselm novels. The Sixth Lamentation, was a Richard and Judy Book Club Selection, A Whispered Name won the CWA Gold Dagger for 2009 and The Day of the Lie received the Granice Crime Fiction Award at the Krakow Book Fair in 2012. Forced Confessions, the third book in the Benson and de Vere series, was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger in 2021. He is married with three children. The family live in Normandy, France.

Reviews
This is a remarkable novel, and puts Brodrick in the frame for prize-winning * Sunday Times *
It is a wonderful book, it has a timeless quality and really should go on to become a classic. It reminds me of the early works of John le Carre, but captures much more accurately the internal workings of ordinary people * Paul Britton, author of The Jigsaw Man *
The Sixth Lamentation is a meticulously-plotted, cat's cradle of a mystery with the interwoven stories pulled as taut as a piano-wire. The setting of Paris during the war is invoked to chilling effect. William Brodrick has written the first of what I hope will be a series of especially literate thrillers * Martha Grimes *
It's indeed rare to find such a masterful blending of sharp suspense and literary resonance as we see in The Sixth Lamentation. Brodrick has produced a truly compelling novel * Jeffery Deaver *


Awards
Runner-up for McKitterick Prize 2004 (UK). Short-listed for Nibbies 2005 (UK). Long-listed for Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2005 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9780349121130
Author William Brodrick
Format Paperback
Page Count 448
Imprint Abacus
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 306g
Dimensions(mm) 133mm * 200mm * 30mm