Without the Moon

by Cathi Unsworth

Night after night Londoners live against a backdrop of the hum of enemy airplanes in the London night sky and the constant bombs destroying landmarks and people’s homes. Each morning residents of this stoic city awaken thankful they are still alive to see the bleak day, made bleaker by the newly destroyed houses and craters that decorate the London landscape.

One February night a killer takes advantage of the chaos and the blacked out streets. Come the morning there is an even more hideous discovery than finding out a neighbour did not live to see the morning. A woman’s body is found strangled and parts of her body violated inside an air-raid shelter in Marylebone, something she would not have needed as the Luftwaffe were conspicuous by their absence the night before. She doesn’t have the look of a lady of the night, a prostitute but a woman of means who has fallen on hard times.

In rapid succession a number of other women are found butchered – but these were women who lived by illicit means, who gave men company for a good price. As the body count mounts, DCI Greenaway is determined to bring this beast who stalks in the dark to a swift meeting with the hangman.

Then another murder of a prostitute is committed on the newly built Waterloo Bridge, but Greenaway has the man he feels in his bones has committed the murders in custody, so who has committed this new crime?

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction, London, British Literature, Mystery, Historical

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 9, 2015

About the author

Cathi Unsworth moved to Ladbroke Grove in 1987 and has stayed there ever since. She began a career in rock writing with Sounds and Melody Maker, before co-editing the arts journal Purr and then Bizarre magazine. Her first novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent's Tail in August 2005.

Reviews

[Nigeyb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blitz is often regarded as London's finest hour however it was also one of the best things that ever happened for London's criminals - and that comes from no less an authority than 'Mad' Frankie Fraser.

'Without the Moon' is Cathi Unsworth's fictionalised account of Gordon Cummins aka The Blackout Ripper, and the unsolved murder of Margaret MacArthur on Waterloo Bridge.

As with 'Bad Penny Blues' in which Cathi Unsworth fictionalised the Jack The Stripper murders of 1959-65, 'Without the Moon' is an excellent imagining of the real life characters who played prominent roles in these murders, and it wonderfully evokes the chaos and confusion of wartime London.

I love literature set in London in the 1930s and 1940s, and this is right up there with Julian McLaren Ross, Patrick Hamilton, Norman Collins, Alexander Barron, Gerald Kersh, and James Curtis. And that, as you may well know, is the highest praise I can bestow on this memorable book.

5/5

[Fictionophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who is interested in the events of WWII will probably appreciate this historical mystery novel. Set in blitz-plagued London in 1942, this was a time when most able-bodied men were conscripted to fight the enemy - leaving few back home to fight crime.

The case being investigated was a particularly gruesome series of crimes against prostitutes who plied their trade during the winter of 1942. Based on true crime, the book was meticulously researched.

The title "Without The Moon" was perfect for the story. It alluded to the dark deeds that were committed in London during the enforced blackouts. Without the moon made for a perfect cover of complete darkness.

I'll admit, I did struggle with some parts of the novel, mostly because of the plethora of characters within its pages. So many different personalities, often only a small part of the overall story making the narrative feel disjointed. It took great concentration to keep the many characters straight in my mind. Thus it was hard to connect with them or be empathetic to their plight.

The protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Edward Greenaway of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad heads the investigations. He was an admirable character, yet I felt I never really got to know even him very well.

The book had a noir, bleak, and very atmospheric feel. Recommended to fans to true crime and history buffs who don't mind a rather disjointed narrative.

[mizukilvsl · Rating 3 out of 5]

~ Without the Moon - Cathi Unsworth

3 ⭐

I meann it's not a bad book. I am a slow reader but I've been reading it for a while now and I'm not even halfway, I just can't get through it 😭 , people keep getting murdered and that's it

The murders were brutal though, like ew. And it's even creepier that it was during ww2 like imagine what he would've looked like.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I saw a documentary about this once (this book is based on a true story) and so when I saw this book, especially with this gorgeous cover, I had to read it and I'm glad I did. Some things did not go the way I thought they would, but like I said as this is based on true events there is only so much the author can write about.

So this wasn't exactly what I'd expected. Nonetheless this deserves more ratings.

[F.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having arrived at ‘Without the Moon’ because I enjoyed Cathi Unsworth’s earlier ‘Bad Penny Blues’ I was disappointed to find how much this book is basically an inferior rewriting of that one.

- Once again it’s recent historical London, leaning heavily on a real case – this time ‘The Blackout Ripper’.

- Once again the story splits itself into two parts, the investigating officer on one side and a woman/women in the local community on the other.

- Once again there’s a spiritual/supernatural element.

- And once again the murder manages to tie itself in to a group of London gangsters.

Now I don’t necessarily have anything against her using the same tropes again; as why shouldn’t she – having been so successful in using Jack the Stripper – take on a different London murderer? The problem is that The Blackout Ripper clearly offers Unsworth much less mileage than Jack the Stripper, and the result is a baggy and insubstantial piece of work.

The structure is all over the place, with the case pretty much solved by the halfway mark and another killer introduced to keep proceedings going. The rest is filled out with the increasingly inconsequential exploits of a bunch of largely uninteresting subsidiary characters (including one, Lil, who is seemingly established as a major character at the outset before disappearing unceremoniously from the narrative mid-way through). As the case is much less interesting and the plot is far less shapely, what we have here is not a particular author’s favourite subjects wheeled out and done well (and who could argue with that?) but instead the distinct sense that Unsworth is re-treading old ground and doing it nowhere near as successfully.

The last Cathi Unsworth book I read sent me scurrying off to see what else was in her oeuvre. I think I’ll give her a break for a while now.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had a couple of strong recommendations for Unsworth’s work, and this certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s set in London during the Blitz, an appealing location with its black-outs, air-raid shelters and black marketeers. There’s a series of brutal murders of women that are investigated by a detective (Greenaway) who is more used to dealing with the city’s organised crime. Set over just a two week period the action is fast and compelling, yet Unsworth is able to give a convincing depiction of London at the time, a world of prostitites, gangsters, immigrants, hacks and mediums as well as the police. Amongst her skills is the plausible united front taken by in face of the violence against women, their world fizzing with tension, atmosphere and sentiment.

[Linda Boa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bound to make my Top Ten of the Year! Really atmospheric, and some fantastic characters. The policeman, Greenaway, is particularly memorable. The sort of book to stick in your mind for a considerable time.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid historical thriller. Well done and clever.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without the Moon is a relatively straightforward police procedural, although with fewer twists and turns, and less focus on the personal life of the lead police officer. The story is rather linear and the two denouements (one mid-book) anti-climaxes, which is somewhat to do with it being the fictionalised account of two real cases that took place, the first named ‘the blackout ripper.’ The tale is also somewhat thin, with Unsworth fleshing out the story with subplots relating to London gangsters and lives of working women. The characters are largely one-dimensional lacking backstory and personality. In addition, there were a number of small elements that didn’t ring true, for example, a sergeant calling his boss ‘Ted’, as opposed to ‘Sir’ or ‘DCI Greenaway’. The result was a story that had an interesting setting and premise, but felt a bit anaemic with respect to characters, plot and storytelling.

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️3.5⭐️

A decent 1940's set crime novel only let down by a such large cast of characters (many whom don't stay for long) it can take a bit of time to keep up.

[Lesley Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

As WW2 makes its retreat further back into history, we are left with the fading memories of those who lived through it alongside Pathe newsreels, the legendary Blitz Spirit and the seemingly superhuman heroism of The Battle of Britain, films made at the time such as ‘London Can Take It ‘or decades later John Boorman’s nostalgia for a wartime childhood in ‘Hope and Glory’. With so much second-hand information can we still distinguish between reality and myth? In ‘Without The Moon’, Cathi Unsworth skilfully taps into these confusions, combining London street-level grit and the widespread obsession with spiritualism and the occult to transform a detective Jack The Ripper-type murder mystery into its own piece of wartime mythology. Along with the title (from Irving Berlin’s ‘ Let’s Face The Music and Dance’ ‘) the nifty use of ’30s and ’40s song titles as chapter headings adds to the sense of time and place. The reader can almost hear the All-Clear sounding and is left dreading what will be found when everyone emerges from the shelters in the dust-drenched morning light.

[Gram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the true story of the "Blackout Ripper", who murdered women at the height of the London Blitz in the early 1940's, this is a gripping noir thriller which delves into the seamier side of London during World War II. Although the "Spirit of the Blitz" if often invoked as the face of London at that terrible time, the truth is that the blackout (no lights were shown to defend against the German Luftwaffe's nightly bombing raids) saw a huge increase in crime in the capital city. Cathi Unsworth's story is meticulously research, complete with a glossary of slang terms and a background to the murders of these unfortunate women as German bombs fell on London. Despite the subject matter, the book is beautifully written - rich in detail about the lesser known events in Britain's capital city during the 2nd World War. Recommended.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The afterword to this book informs the reader that this novel is the reimagining of true events in the London blitz of 1942 where for a very short period a series of brutal murders of young women took place . The eventual killer was hung but a copycat murder resulted in the acquittal of another serving soldier.
The book captured the atmosphere of London at that time perfectly and the characters were well drawn particularly DCi Greenaway and the Jewish criminal gang members behind cigarette smuggling. Some of the female victims and plotting felt a bit confusing and the characters a little like a black and white film cast but overall it was a good read.

[Ian Mapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forth book that I've read by Cathi Unsworth and I think I have discovered the most likely pattern. 2 star reviews from me. All but the Singer have received this mediocre rating. There's no doubt that her books are of interest, meticulously researched and from a time and location that I really enjoy - mid C20th London. But something just doesn't seem to work when I read them. I'm going to have describe my lack of engagement as the structure and story telling.... it just doesn't seem to work for me.

This book is quite similar to Bad Penny Blues - a real life case of a murderer of London Prostitutes.

But this is a weaker novel.

There's a glossary of London cockney rhyming slang at the back of the book. This means the author layers it on far too thickly in the characters conversation - to the point that it becomes a parody of Londoners. I thought I knew cockney well but there are phrases that I have never seen before (LSD - for Money).

The characters are frankly all over the place. There's a policeman, Greenaway, running the investigation. Then far too many come and go. Couldn't engage, couldn't keep on top of them.

For a crime book - there's no suspense or drama. Things are pretty much wrapped up by the mid point.

There were things to admire - a very noirish feel to the book and London in the War is rarely dull.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon her first taste of gin, it had come to Lil with the force of revelation that only her looks stood between this tantalising taste of glamour and the lifetime of drudgery to which she had been assigned. She awoke in a hotel room in Paddington with a five-pound note on the pillow beside her ... [p. 81]

London, 1942: blackouts, the Blitz, servicemen from abroad, black marketeers, prostitutes, spiritualists ... Without the Moon (a line, like the chapter headings, from a popular song of the time) is a fictionalised account of the 'Blackout Ripper' murders -- four women killed in six days by a Canadian airman -- and another woman murdered on Waterloo Bridge days later. Unsworth gives us DCI Greenaway, former star of the Flying Squad (which focussed on organised crime), now with the Murder Squad: an old-school policeman with plenty of friends and contacts in the criminal underworld.

I enjoyed Unsworth's That Old Black Magic more than Without the Moon, though the two books share a setting and some characters, and a distinctly noirish ambience. I kept expecting supernatural elements, but though there (arguably) are some, they're very obliquely described. And I could have done without the grisly details of the murders. As in that previous book, Unsworth writes a lot of flashbacks: typically, Greenaway is standing somewhere, staring broodily out into the blackout night, and then reflecting on recent events.

I didn't dislike the novel, but I found it rather disappointing, without the energy and weirdness of That Old Black Magic (or, come to think of it, Weirdo). Some intriguing characters, and a powerful evocation of wartime London; plenty of cosmopolitan London slang, with its Yiddish / Polari / Cockney elements; the rough justice of the underworld.

Unsworth's ebooks seem to have been withdrawn: I'd had this wishlisted for ages before I went hunting and found it on Hive.co.uk.

[Bookfan53 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I had read by this author. Wartime London is portrayed very well. I remember my mother telling me about the crime that went on during WWII and this book seems to illustrate some of the organised crime. It was quite atmospheric.

There were things I could not get to grips with, one was the amount of characters. I really could not keep track as there seemed to be quite a few of them that were not central to the plot and it all seemed a bit all over the place. I actually feel as if I missed who the perpetrator of these awful crimes was, as it was confusing. I found the book quite difficult in that respect.

This left me feeling that I would like to read another of Ms Unsworth's books, I do hope the next one may be a bit less confusing. It's not that the writing is bad but I think fewer characters may be better.

[Maria Longley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Several women get murdered someone gets arrested and then the second half of the book begins with a new (sort of) story. Afterwards I found out this based on true crime so I wonder if that's why it felt like there was no plot developments, things just plodded along (oh here's a body, oh here's the murderer). And if you write about murders during a war time surely the blackout curtains aren't the most interesting thing about it? Maybe I'm just grumpy as the protagonist is a death penalty apologist? I do get the feeling I've read a totally different book as I didn't get any of the "tense and eerie thriller" promised on the back.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding crime novel set in war-time London, with a real feel for the atmosphere of my home city when my close family were under the threat of regular German bombings & irregular roving servicemen preying on vulnerable women. A callous serial killer in an RAF uniform & a Canadian renegade cause violent & murderous havoc & are relentlessly hunted-down by Greenaway, a copper with a steel core. It has a depth of research into real cases on which this fiction is solidly based, & Cathi Unsworth is worth another few hours of my reading time...

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐ =Good.
Paperback.

This was my physical bookclubs read this month.
Apparently this is based on a true story, although I wasn't aware of this prior to reading.

Very atmospheric, with descriptive writing that really set the scene well.
Initially, I thought that it was set during the Victorian era. I never read the synopsis prior to reading so always go in blind.
The only negative - I was a little disappointed with the ending. Not what I was expecting.

[Moirad · Rating 3 out of 5]

WWII London noir, based on real events in 1942. Elements include gruesome murders of prostitutes carried out by servicemen, East End gangs, a crusading journalist, and spiritualists: a strange mix. The atmosphere of the wartime city and its underworld is brought to life well, and the fictional and factual successfully combined.

[Annie Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A grisly and very clever tale, beautifully evoking London during the Blitz. Expertly depicted and believable characters bring the story to life and provide a powerful atmosphere of hope, despair, terror and magic. The author’s note and glossary add fascinating context and underline Cathi Unsworth’s skill in combining fact and fiction.

[Vicky Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy crime novels but I found this book hard to get into and I didn’t enjoy many, if any, of the characters. Knowing ‘who dunnit’ from early didn’t help as one waited for a curve ball that never came. Two stars I’m afraid, and those are mostly for the glossary at the end of the book which was ultimately more enjoyable than the book itself.

[Vi Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5 star read that is a fictionalised account of murders carried out by the so called Blackout Ripper in 1942 and the murder of Margaret MacArthur in the same fortnight all in wartime London. A gripping crime read.

[Lily Ashton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of murders in London during the dark days of the Blitz is the setting for this crime book. The tense war atmosphere is well captured, as is the mood of people trying to go about their normal business. A vividly atmosphere novel.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serial killer in war torn London, so lots of destruction on all fronts. There are many named characters some with only a tangential or unknown relationship to the narrative which makes the read a bit confusing

[Ichor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. It was sold to me as a noir set in the blitz but really it lacked any of the hard-boiled snappy language and darkness that makes noir for me.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

London during the Blitz is the setting of this mystery. DCI Greenaway is determined to capture a ruthless killer targeting women. The killer is based on real-life killer Gordon Frederick Cummins.

[Roo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on true events during WW2. this book ambled along at a steady pace. A consistent read but nowhere near as "noir" as it was made out to be. A bit like Midsomer Murders in wartime London !!

[Marian Bye]

Did not read

[Ann Tonks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something about the tone of this writing and the resulting characters that kept putting me off - and after a couple of chapters, I just didn't want to be in that world any longer.