A Small Death in Lisbon

⚖The case for it

Two timelines run side by side, and the 1998 investigation is the weaker engine; every return to it drains the charge the 1940s chapters generate without effort. True enough. But stay with Klaus Felsen into Salazar's tungsten racket, where neutral Portugal quietly outfitted the Reich for profit. That strand is historical crime writing of real command, watching money soaked in guilt turn itself into respectability across decades. The dread accumulates, and the mechanism knitting past to present wants your patience. Give it. Felsen's story pays back every hour you spend.

— the honest librarian

✕The case against

Wilson's wartime strand, following SS businessman Klaus Felsen into the wolfram trade, is so much stronger than the 1990s police procedural that the alternation feels like interruption. The sexual violence is relentless and starts to read as furniture. When the two timelines finally connect, the hinge is a long way around for what it delivers.

— the honest librarian