Down Milldyke Way

by harry-bowling

A Cockney saga about a woman who is forced to move to a slum tenement block, where she discovers the corpse of a single woman from the next block. Turning to Sergeant Cassidy for protection, she finds that both her emotions and her life are in danger. By the author of ONE MORE FOR SADDLER STREET.

342 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solidly written novel detailing post WWII London. Engaging main character Kate and her two children move to rough tenement neighbourhood in London. Story of how they adjust. Lively array of supporting characters keep the story moving. A little romance and a mystery add spice to the storyline.

A very good novel to read on a vacation. Didn’t require too much thinking and yet entertaining and thought provoking.

[Jacqueline Carpenter]

Brilliant book Harry Bowling was so clever there are so many characters I don't know how he kept up with them all ! Story about a run down old block of flats in Bermondsey, South London after World War Two Tells the tale of happy, carefree, poor days and human nature. I can't wait to find another novel by him !!

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of the books I’m ashamed it to be known I’ve read. Ah well sometimes fluff is needed, as is the cosy predictability of an ‘appy endin’ and strong arms to sweep our heroine into. The murder was rather rushed into the final stretch of the book, and the carefully spelled cockney dialect was frustrating to read, but hey ho, it filled a couple of afternoons of lockdown.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this

Brilliant read took me back to my teenage years when I read this for the first time couldn't put it down

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tells of an East End street that is a condemned set of slum homes but there is a delay demolishing them after the war. The kids from this street are looked down on at school, by children and teachers alike, and the boys aim to run off to sea while the girls decide to try for jobs rather than get married and have plentiful babies young.
Tolerance of difference only lasts until an odd person becomes a suspect, like the single man musician who gets scapegoated.
There is also petty crime and fringes of more serious crime as people try desperately to improve their lives.
This was an okay read but I have read better about London and there was little in the way of contrast. The author was recalling a life he had known.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read about life in the london slums of bermondsey just after the 2nd world war

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. A mixture of murder and romance.Not a graphic murder story but enough to stop the book from being just a romance.