The Blitz Detective
Saturday 7th September, 1940. The sun is shining, and in the midst of the good weather Londoners could be mistaken for forgetting their country was at war – until the familiar wail of the air-raid sirens heralds an enemy attack. The Blitz has started, and normal life has abruptly ended – but crime has not.
The Canning Town Murder
September, 1940. As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. Suspicion is at an all time high and no one is sure who can be trusted.
The Stratford Murder
October, 1940. Bombs are falling on Stratford when air-raid warden Sylvia Parks sees a house with a shining light, in clear breach of the city’s strict blackout rules. With no answer at the door she manages to break in, only to discover the body of a young woman, strangled to death with a stocking.
The Camden Murder
November 1940. As dawn begins to break, blackout regulations are rendered pointless by a car burning fiercely near the Regent’s Canal in Camden Town, north London. In the burnt-out vehicle police find the charred remains of a body. The victim is Les Latham, a commercial traveller for the Baring and Sons confectionery company. He liked to be known as Lucky Les, but it seems his luck has finally run out.
The Covent Garden Murder
December, 1940. The season of goodwill is overshadowed by the death and destruction of the Blitz. In London’s Covent Garden, where the glamour of theatreland rubs shoulders with the capital’s busiest fruit and vegetable market, the war has closed the theatres and ruined the market trade.
