The Ghosts of Paris

A gripping story of secrets and intrigue set in postwar London and Paris. A search for a missing husband forces investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker to face the ghosts of her own painful past, and sets her on a collision course with an underground network of Nazis.

Coming June 7, 2022...

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator. When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant, Sam, to track down her missing husband, the trail leads back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. As clues about both men land in strange dead ends, danger seems to be lurking one step behind her. Is it this latest case, or is something even more terrible than a few painful memories following Billie around the City of Light . . .

“Just what I needed today—a blast of the escapist past.”

- IAN RANKIN, on The War Widow

"The War Widow and The Ghosts of Paris are packed with fascinating characters, issues and events, vivid historical settings, and spearheaded by a brilliant protagonist."

- MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE

13 reviews for The Ghosts of Paris

  1. Cecilia Ekback, award-winning author of The Historians and Wolf Winter

    Ingenious, spirited, feminist… Billie Walker is the most enjoyable heroine I’ve come across in a long time.

  2. First Clue

    The author has done her research, and it shows—in the best possible way. [We] would follow Billie Walker anywhere.

  3. Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times-bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series and Mother Daughter Traitor Spy

    Billie Walker—a feisty and flamboyant combination of Martha Gellhorn and Sherlock Holmes in “Fighting Red” lipstick—and her adventures continue, leading her back to London and Paris in this crackling post-war noir adventure— where ghosts from Billie’s past are as vivid as the bad guys she’s chasing.

  4. Publishers Weekly

    Set in 1947, Moss’s intriguing sequel to 2020’s The War Widow finds business booming for Billie Walker, Sydney, Australia’s “most famous—or was it infamous?—female inquiry agent.” Moss does a good job portraying how Australian Aboriginals and women were treated at the time… Historical romance fans will find a lot to like.

  5. Red Carpet Crash

    The sequel to The War Widow (the first Billie Walker novel), is a great follow-up, with more character development, great settings in London and Paris, danger everywhere and a shocking revelation for Billie….Fans of the first novel will love this one. Here’s to many more years of adventures with Billie and Sam.

  6. Mystery Scene Magazine

    The War Widow and The Ghosts of Paris are packed with fascinating characters, issues and events, vivid historical settings, and spearheaded by a brilliant protagonist.

  7. BJ’s Book Blog

    Tara Moss has given us another enthralling story with The Ghosts Of Paris…Billie Walker is one of those women that paved the way for women of today to be able to do and be anything.

  8. Library Journal, USA

    Postwar Sydney, London, and Paris come alive in Moss’s intense sequel to The War Widow …A richly detailed historical mystery that spotlights social issues like postwar persecution of LGBTQ communities in both Sydney and Paris. Readers of Sulari Gentill’s “Rowland Sinclair” mysteries, set in interwar Sydney, will appreciate Moss’s riveting series.

  9. Booklist

    The romance of Paris, the adrenaline rush of a deadly chase, a soul-shattering secret, and a resilient heroine make for a gripping read.

  10. Woman’s Day

    Set in postwar London and Paris, the gripping new novel from one of Australia’s most revered writers tells the story of investigator Billie Walker, who must confront the ghosts of her own painful past in order to find a missing man.

  11. Toronto Star

    [The] captivating sequel to “The War Widow”…A smart, sassy and subversive protagonist combined with secrets kept and secrets revealed to propel the plot will have you flipping pages through to the satisfying end.

  12. Historical Fiction Society

    Prolific author Tara Moss’s latest mystery is a complex, multilayered narrative…details of the places and the people offer the reader a vivid and colorful picture of [postwar] life.

  13. The British Columbia Review

    Tara Moss flawlessly transitions her readers to 1947 and to Sydney, Australia via her strong and timely heroine, Billie Walker, and the mysteries that plant themselves in her path.