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Fall of Man in Wilmslow

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Fall of Man in Wilmslow

By: David Lagercrantz, George Goulding - translator
Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
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About this listen

 June 8, 1954. Alan Turing, the visionary mathematician, is found dead at his home in sleepy Wilmslow, dispatched by a poisoned apple.

Taking the case, Detective Constable Leonard Corell quickly learns Turing is a convicted homosexual. Confident it's a suicide, he is nonetheless confounded by official secrecy over Turing's war record. What is more, Turing's sexuality appears to be causing alarm among the intelligence services - could he have been blackmailed by Soviet spies?

Stumbling across evidence of Turing's genius, and sensing an escape from a narrow life, Corell soon becomes captivated by Turing's brilliant and revolutionary work, and begins to dig deeper.

But in the paranoid, febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, loose cannons cannot be tolerated. As his innocent curiosity fast takes him far out of his depth, Corell realises he has much to learn about the dangers of forbidden knowledge.

(P)2015 Quercus Editions Ltd©2015 David Lagercrantz 20th Century Espionage Historical Historical Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literature & Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

Lagercrantz neatly intertwines the facts of Turing's life with the fiction of Corell's quest for knowledge to create an unsettling story of state secrets and sexual hypocrisy (Nick Rennison)
Swedish crime fiction moves into Britain's heartland in this superbly written espionage and murder novel . . . Lagercrantz has the lingo, the mood and the place down pat. (Margaret Cannon)
Has the faintest whiff of W.G. Sebald; haunted characters determined to pull others down into turbid, oppressive currents of memory and ideas. You are willingly drawn down with them (Sinclair McKay)
A persuasive evocation of Turing's genius and of a Britain still suffering under rationing and repression (Harry Ritchie)
Perhaps the most signal achievement here is the clever melding of two narrative forms: a sympathetic biography of a real historical figure treated appallingly by the establishment, and a police procedural in which a dogged copper tries to crack a mystery in the teeth of bloody-minded intransigence (Barry Forshaw)
Absorbing . . . Gets the synapses sparking . . . Lagercrantz is at home with a damaged hero who has more of an affinity with computers than humans (Jake Kerridge)
All stars
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Any additional comments?

I need to be careful when writing this review. The storyline was fantastic and written superbly, with a fantastic spin on real life events surrounding a man of genius and supreme intellect. Alan Turing was a genius. Born in 1912 and died in 1954, this was an interesting take on events surrounding his "suicide".

You will notice I haven't given this audiobook a great rating. This is because I felt the narration was extremely poor, and I am sure that is the reason for my not liking it. However, that is not enough for me to slate this book. Especially as the first reviewer, I would feel I am not giving you a clear enough picture. I still recommend people buy and listen to this, maybe you will enjoy it more than I did. Just because I found the narration to be poor that doesn't necessarily mean you will.

Buy it and give it a go. I would rather be honest and paint a clear picture for future listeners rather than lie and say how great I found it just to chase "likes" on my reviews.

😊

Fall of man

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An oblique look at Turing and the development of computing. I thought the narrator was perfectly suited to the quaint prose, a bit like the aural equivalent of an old movie. Loved it.

A different perspective

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Great idea but lacked in execution. It felt too crafted but lacked engagement and built little empathy with characters. Worth a read/listen if you're interested in Turing.

Lost in translation?

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David Lagercrantz is a good story teller. He brings alive the horror of the persecution of Allan Turin and all homosexual men at that time in history. It is a moving revelation of the prejudice and injustice in post war Britain. It is also the story of one man who rediscovers himself and learns to live an authentic life.

A great read

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