Douglas Kingsley is sent to Flanders in 1917 to investigate the murder of a British officer.Forced to conduct his investigations amid the hell of the third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.
Ben Elton’s tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama that explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle?
As the gap between legally sanctioned and illegal murder becomes ever more blurred, Konig quickly learns that the first casualty of war is Truth.

Ben Elton’s career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the last twenty years. His TV credits include The Young Ones, Blackadder, and The Thin Blue Line. He has written three West End plays, directed a feature film, and written a musical with Andrew Lloyd Webber.