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Inspector Lamb #1
The Language of the Dead
German bombers are arriving daily, seeking to crush England. But in a rural Hampshire village, things have remained fairly quiet—until an elderly loner, Will Blackwell, is brutally murdered. The method of his killing bears the hallmarks of the traditional vanquishing of a witch, and indeed, local legend claims that as a boy, Blackwell encountered a ghostly black dog sent from the devil, who struck a bargain for Blackwell’s soul.
Not long after the murder, a young woman who is carrying the illegitimate child of a fighter pilot also is violently killed; then a local drunkard ends up in the race of an abandoned mill with the back of his head bashed in. As the Germans continue their relentless attack, Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb rushes to solve the crimes. Do the killer’s motivations lie in the murky regions of the occult?
Not long after the murder, a young woman who is carrying the illegitimate child of a fighter pilot also is violently killed; then a local drunkard ends up in the race of an abandoned mill with the back of his head bashed in. As the Germans continue their relentless attack, Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb rushes to solve the crimes. Do the killer’s motivations lie in the murky regions of the occult?
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 2015
43 people are currently reading
1495 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Kelly
3 books60 followersI've always loved reading good mystery novels, especially those from the English masters -- Conan Doyle, Dame Agatha, Colin Dexter, Peter Robinson and others. I'm also a huge fan of the Norwegian crime novelist, Karin Fossum. Before turning to writing fiction with a vengeance, though, I was, for nearly thirty years, a newspaper reporter, editor and columnist. My work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, Baltimore Magazine, The Columbia Flier and Howard County Times. I have a Master's from the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars and have taught writing and journalism at Hopkins, Towson University, in Baltimore, and Sweet Briar College, in Virginia. I live in Columbia, Maryland, with my wife, Cindy, and our daughters, Anna and Lauren. We'd love to have a cat -- we love cats -- but we can't because Anna and I are allergic. So it goes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
September 11, 2025
Vēsturiskais detektīvs, kura darbība notiek mazā angļu ciematiņā 2.PK laikā, kad tikko sākusies Lielbritānijas bombardēšana. Noziegumi notiek arī kara laikā, un pie kāda zemnieka noslēpumainās nāves izmeklēšanas klāt ķeras inspektors Lembs. Saistošs sižets, interesanti tēli, kara postījumu apraksti. Atgādināja kādreiz populāro seriālu "Foila karš".
April 20, 2015
Fans of BBC's "Foyle's War" detective series will enjoy this excellent first novel. Set in rural England during the days of the blitz, it relates the story of a small town police force investigating a series of murders, while at the same time dealing with the fear and uncertainty of the war, and the social upheavals it has caused. While some of the character development slows down the pace of the plot a bit, it appears to be laying the groundwork for what I hope will be an ongoing series of stories.
June 17, 2016
German bombs are falling nightly on rural England in 1940 and Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb is worrying about the safety of his daughter, Vera, who has taken a job as air raid warden in the Hampshire village of Quimby, when he receives word an elderly man has been brutally murdered in the same village.
When Lamb and his team arrive in the village they learn the man had been accused of witchcraft and had been killed in the same manner as had an accused woman in 1882.
As they delve into the case, some evidence is found that Will Blackwell had been involved in some way with the occult. Newly assigned DI Harry Rivers, who holds a grudge against Lamb from when they served together in World War 1, disputes the witchcraft theory and believes more attention should be focused on Blackwell's spinster niece and a neighbor with whom he thinks she's involved.
The theft of money from Blackwell's home lend some credence to Rivers' suspicion. But the subsequent murders of a pregnant young woman and the town drunkard adds another element to the case. The discovery of excellently rendered drawings of spiders on Blackwell and the young woman lead Lamb to the estate of a wealthy Lord who is the benefactor of Peter, a seemingly mute boy who runs off every time the inspector tries to interview him.
As Lamb and his associates DS David Wallace and Rivers dig into the investigation they keep running into new secrets and mysteries. Adding to Lamb's problems are Wallace's drinking problem and an affair with a married woman, Rivers' continuing resentment and the inspector's worries about Vera and disturbing memories of his own war experiences.
This is the first in the Lamb series and I'm finding the inspector to be a complex fellow worth getting to know better. Kelly crafts compelling characters, an absorbing plot and a good amount of suspense.
When Lamb and his team arrive in the village they learn the man had been accused of witchcraft and had been killed in the same manner as had an accused woman in 1882.
As they delve into the case, some evidence is found that Will Blackwell had been involved in some way with the occult. Newly assigned DI Harry Rivers, who holds a grudge against Lamb from when they served together in World War 1, disputes the witchcraft theory and believes more attention should be focused on Blackwell's spinster niece and a neighbor with whom he thinks she's involved.
The theft of money from Blackwell's home lend some credence to Rivers' suspicion. But the subsequent murders of a pregnant young woman and the town drunkard adds another element to the case. The discovery of excellently rendered drawings of spiders on Blackwell and the young woman lead Lamb to the estate of a wealthy Lord who is the benefactor of Peter, a seemingly mute boy who runs off every time the inspector tries to interview him.
As Lamb and his associates DS David Wallace and Rivers dig into the investigation they keep running into new secrets and mysteries. Adding to Lamb's problems are Wallace's drinking problem and an affair with a married woman, Rivers' continuing resentment and the inspector's worries about Vera and disturbing memories of his own war experiences.
This is the first in the Lamb series and I'm finding the inspector to be a complex fellow worth getting to know better. Kelly crafts compelling characters, an absorbing plot and a good amount of suspense.
August 20, 2017
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
I guess this idea of setting British mysteries during World War II is a trend, as this has to be at least the fourth series that is doing it.
It's the darkest days of the war for the British, as the Nazis are bombing the blighty shores almost daily. Most all of the young men are joining the armed forces, and a lot of women are also trying to contribute, including the daughter of our protagonist, DI Thomas Lamb.
Throughout the war, more prosaic killings take place. An elderly loner is killed and the police investigate. It seems to have to do with a home for troubled boys. Right away, you can see where this is going.
Not too bad, but I like some other series with the same premise better.
I guess this idea of setting British mysteries during World War II is a trend, as this has to be at least the fourth series that is doing it.
It's the darkest days of the war for the British, as the Nazis are bombing the blighty shores almost daily. Most all of the young men are joining the armed forces, and a lot of women are also trying to contribute, including the daughter of our protagonist, DI Thomas Lamb.
Throughout the war, more prosaic killings take place. An elderly loner is killed and the police investigate. It seems to have to do with a home for troubled boys. Right away, you can see where this is going.
Not too bad, but I like some other series with the same premise better.
April 20, 2015
If you are a fan of BBC series Foyle's War you might like this.
February 1, 2017
This book reads and feels like an American trying to write as an English person. The number of times I had to read the word 'bloody' and 'fag' was unbearable. The plot was weak to say the least. I felt as if every time the book was becoming boring he would throw in a dead body. Like other reviewers have stated there was too much going on; a woman committing adultery, a woman being abused for committing adultery, children being molested, an unmarried pregnant seventeen year old, a random German bomber narrative, witchcraft, and sporadic flashbacks. Overall it's a poor read and I would not recommend the book.
June 16, 2015
Solid read, historical mystery. The setting was interesting to me in that it takes place during WWII but in the English countryside with the German Stukas just starting to make forays into Southampton and surrounding areas. The war isn't part of the story, really, but background to it.
I didn't like how the perspective kept shifting, sometimes from one paragraph to another (it doesn't bother me when it changes from one chapter to another, but such quick changes were a bit jarring and sometimes had me having to reread to see whose perspective I was reading).
I didn't like how the perspective kept shifting, sometimes from one paragraph to another (it doesn't bother me when it changes from one chapter to another, but such quick changes were a bit jarring and sometimes had me having to reread to see whose perspective I was reading).
May 26, 2015
Altogether too much---we have a witch, a black dog (a ghost), a German bomber (told from his view) who appears in only 2 chapters, a girl who is pregnant (no husband), a mentally-disabled boy, a gambling Inspector, a sergeant who drinks way too much and is also a womanizer, a woman who is somewhat sexually adventurous (and who is marred to a man who is fighting somewhere), the neighbors who 'protect' her....and most of them are not even major players in the story. Just too much
June 1, 2015
A difficult start with too many characters introduced at once. Once I was able to keep track the storyline picked up. The suspense built up toward the end but the ending was flat. It was very much a summary of who did what and how. As a first novel, it was better than many and the author has great potential. The period of Britain during WWII is a very interesting backdrop for a suspense novel. If this is the first of a series to come, I'm sure it will only get better.
July 12, 2019
This is an excellent debut, in which the protagonist, DCI Thomas Lamb, reminds me of Foyle, from Foyle's War. Headquartered in Winchester in Hampshire, it involves multiple murders and as many suspects. First Lamb is faced with a new DI, Harry Rivers, with whom he served in the last war, and Harry blames him for the death of his friend Eric Parker, whom Rivers had talked into enlisting with him. He died while he and Lamb were trying to take out some German machine placements, a hero. But Rivers has deep resentments about the death. He is also being transfered to Lamb's Constabulary having bollixed up a prior case in his old constabulary.
They are investigating the death of an elderly man, who was believed to be a witch, and he has been killed in a ritualistic way that mimics a killing 60 years earlier of a witch. Rivers is ready to jump right in and arrest the man's niece and her lover, George Abbott, illegally entering their homes, as he had in his prior case. But Lamb has reservations and the case gets complicated when a young pregnant woman is also killed. There is a ward of Sir Jeffrey Pembroke's that is thought by some to be scary, as he is seldom seen and does not talk. Peter Wilkins, however, is a brilliant artist, particularly of insects and butterflies, and seems to be trying to communicate to a number of people throught his drawings. Peter has in fact witnessed too much of the bad things going on in the area. In the course of the investigation more people die as Lamb finds pictures of naked young boys, including Thomas Bennett, who ran away from Pembroke's summer camp, was returned to him, and the Resurrection Home for Boys director, Gerald Pirie says was adopted. He was not and Peter writes on his drawings that Thomas is dead.
Vera Lamb, Lamb's daughter, and the air warden of Quimby, on the coast, has also received drawings, and is being harrassed by Arthur Lear, with whom she had an affair. She has decided to break away from Arthur, only to have him accuse her of sleeping with Peter, and menace her. In a bombing gone wrong a exploded German bomber drops onto property near the case, and the British plane that brought it down falls into a farm of the Noel Lear, killing him and Arthur as he tries to save his father.
Once Lamb puts the pieces together and finds the photo album that Peter took from Pembroke he realizes that Pembroke is a pedophile and has murdered all the individuals that he thinks might reveal his secret.
I found the characters well developed and was particularly attached to Lamb. He is intelligent, intuitive and compassionate. His superior, Superintendent Harding believes in his abilities and gives him leaway to solve the case, while Rivers runs around guessing at the killer and trying to get ahead of Lamb to arrest someone, never identifying the real murderer. The author lends reality to the story and the time by putting the reader in the mind of a German bomber pilot, Hermann Seitz. He thinks his bosses (Goering...) don't known what they are doing, is scared, and eventually dies as he attempts to bomb sites that he cannot see, and without proper protection from Messerschmitts. They do not have the distance capability to follow the bombers into Britain and are overcome by the British Spitfires over the Channel.
A well written and compelling story.
They are investigating the death of an elderly man, who was believed to be a witch, and he has been killed in a ritualistic way that mimics a killing 60 years earlier of a witch. Rivers is ready to jump right in and arrest the man's niece and her lover, George Abbott, illegally entering their homes, as he had in his prior case. But Lamb has reservations and the case gets complicated when a young pregnant woman is also killed. There is a ward of Sir Jeffrey Pembroke's that is thought by some to be scary, as he is seldom seen and does not talk. Peter Wilkins, however, is a brilliant artist, particularly of insects and butterflies, and seems to be trying to communicate to a number of people throught his drawings. Peter has in fact witnessed too much of the bad things going on in the area. In the course of the investigation more people die as Lamb finds pictures of naked young boys, including Thomas Bennett, who ran away from Pembroke's summer camp, was returned to him, and the Resurrection Home for Boys director, Gerald Pirie says was adopted. He was not and Peter writes on his drawings that Thomas is dead.
Vera Lamb, Lamb's daughter, and the air warden of Quimby, on the coast, has also received drawings, and is being harrassed by Arthur Lear, with whom she had an affair. She has decided to break away from Arthur, only to have him accuse her of sleeping with Peter, and menace her. In a bombing gone wrong a exploded German bomber drops onto property near the case, and the British plane that brought it down falls into a farm of the Noel Lear, killing him and Arthur as he tries to save his father.
Once Lamb puts the pieces together and finds the photo album that Peter took from Pembroke he realizes that Pembroke is a pedophile and has murdered all the individuals that he thinks might reveal his secret.
I found the characters well developed and was particularly attached to Lamb. He is intelligent, intuitive and compassionate. His superior, Superintendent Harding believes in his abilities and gives him leaway to solve the case, while Rivers runs around guessing at the killer and trying to get ahead of Lamb to arrest someone, never identifying the real murderer. The author lends reality to the story and the time by putting the reader in the mind of a German bomber pilot, Hermann Seitz. He thinks his bosses (Goering...) don't known what they are doing, is scared, and eventually dies as he attempts to bomb sites that he cannot see, and without proper protection from Messerschmitts. They do not have the distance capability to follow the bombers into Britain and are overcome by the British Spitfires over the Channel.
A well written and compelling story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up for light on plot but strong on characterizations, locales and historical background.
I knew right from the start who the killer was. It was an easy plot to follow, with no real side issues, other than some typical romances-gone-wrong which were pretty generic and mainly served to provide grist for the next books in the series.
What I found most interesting was the author's deft inclusion of an autistic character. The word "autism" is never used, which is great because I don't believe it had been coined at the time the book is set, 1940. But it is obvious to the modern reader that that is condition the character, Peter, suffers from.
Also, I found the format to be very much like a book version of "Foyle's War." In fact, I superimposed Michael Kitchen's voice over any dialog involving DCI Lamb!
All-in-all, this book is rich in future possibilities and with more experience, I have hopes that the author will become more clever in hiding his clues so that the culprit is less apparent so early on.
I knew right from the start who the killer was. It was an easy plot to follow, with no real side issues, other than some typical romances-gone-wrong which were pretty generic and mainly served to provide grist for the next books in the series.
What I found most interesting was the author's deft inclusion of an autistic character. The word "autism" is never used, which is great because I don't believe it had been coined at the time the book is set, 1940. But it is obvious to the modern reader that that is condition the character, Peter, suffers from.
Also, I found the format to be very much like a book version of "Foyle's War." In fact, I superimposed Michael Kitchen's voice over any dialog involving DCI Lamb!
All-in-all, this book is rich in future possibilities and with more experience, I have hopes that the author will become more clever in hiding his clues so that the culprit is less apparent so early on.
August 2, 2019
i read the second book in this series first and it was pretty good, so I went back and read this one. I liked this first in the series, too: the setting of southern England during WW2 was a good one and the author captured the feeling of unsettlement and social change that the war brought (both my parents were WW2 veterans). I agree with other reviewers that there was a lot going on, but in my mind that was to establish the characters that will be part of a longer series. (At least, I hope so--other long-running British mystery series I've read over the years started rather slowly like this. Maybe because I read the second book already I had more tolerance for the extra stuffing.)
I do find the weird omniscient point of view jarring. In most of the mysteries I read, the POV is usually of the detective(s) and not shifting around from character to character. Sometimes that shift gives away something that the detective (Lamb) finds out later (this was especially true in the second book) and I don't find that helpful. Also there was a bit too much tidiness and quick dispatching of problems toward the end, some of which were a bit too coincidental. I figured out what was going on before the end and the ending was pretty clearly foreshadowed but all in all, it was a good book to read on a plane--likable characters, swiftly moving plot, and interesting setting. I already have the third book in the series from the library and look forward to digging into it!
I do find the weird omniscient point of view jarring. In most of the mysteries I read, the POV is usually of the detective(s) and not shifting around from character to character. Sometimes that shift gives away something that the detective (Lamb) finds out later (this was especially true in the second book) and I don't find that helpful. Also there was a bit too much tidiness and quick dispatching of problems toward the end, some of which were a bit too coincidental. I figured out what was going on before the end and the ending was pretty clearly foreshadowed but all in all, it was a good book to read on a plane--likable characters, swiftly moving plot, and interesting setting. I already have the third book in the series from the library and look forward to digging into it!
January 7, 2017
A not too bad WWII mystery about a series of murders in a small English town racked by bombings. There's a mysterious boy who says little but leaves provocative drawings, a rich British lord of the manor, and a police sergeant having a torrid affair with a married woman. Much of the atmosphere seems right on target (pardon the pun), although there's too much about the affair for my taste. Inspector Thomas Lamb, a WWI veteran, seems a decent sort, willingly to put in the time and energy to solve the series of crimes, despite his drunken sergeant and the arrival of another detective who still resents him for the death of a friend of his in the last war. I'll be curious to see how this series develops.
November 1, 2015
This was a satisfying book that got a little rushed and uneven at the end. The author has strong characters (even the minor roles have been fleshed out) and there is a real sense of what it must have been like to live during WWI in England.
My comment about the ending was that the wrap-up seemed to come out of nowhere, in a "gotcha" moment. This resolution betrayed the author's character building of the villain and seemed forced.
Overall I like the author's style and would read another one when it is published.
My comment about the ending was that the wrap-up seemed to come out of nowhere, in a "gotcha" moment. This resolution betrayed the author's character building of the villain and seemed forced.
Overall I like the author's style and would read another one when it is published.
June 28, 2015
An astounding mystery by talented newcomer Stephen Kelly. What holds this story together so well is its original characters. Quite frankly, if you had told me I would stay up at night reading a murder mystery set in England during World War II, I'd have told you that you were nuts. But damned if Kelly didn't deliver with a genuine page turner. I came to love Detective Inspector Lamb (and his family). And I can't wait for his return. A great summer read that I heartily recommend!
October 30, 2023
World War II has left the local police force in rural Hampshire understaffed and overworked. Can they even expect resources to be taken from the tense Battle of Britain raging overhead--for a murder? Will Blackwell was a solitary figure, reviled as a witch by many. But why was he murdered now? And how is the strange, mute boy who spends his time drawing pictures of insects involved?
November 10, 2015
There was a lot going on in this story, and it might have been okay, except for the fact that the pov switches were way too frequent - I mean, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph. Nobody's pov is spared - we even got the pov of a tertiary character (a German pilot) for the five seconds it took for him to crash his plane - that's not a true spoiler, I hope. The mystery itself is pretty adequate.
December 11, 2015
This reads like something that would be a Masterpiece Theatre movie on PBS and there's nothing wrong with that. While I liked Vera as a character, I could've done without the Arthur subplot, but the rest of it was nicely done. I put on my sleuthing hat & figured it all out before the end, but I enjoyed the journey .
October 7, 2015
I think too many characters with not enough depth in them. Good setting.
April 3, 2018
During WWII in England, Inspector Lamb is called to a murder in a small town on the south coast. It’s a brutal one, of a man locally rumored to be a witch. It’s quickly followed by more murders as Lamb and his team try to unpick all the strands of what’s going on. What’s the role of the intellectually challenged boy who draws beautiful insects? Why was the teenager with no apparent connection to the case murdered? What’s the role of Lord Pembroke’s summer residency for orphans, or the role of the orphans? Did any of them see anything? Meanwhile, German bombs are falling, Lamb’s daughter, Vera, is dealing with a relationship going bad, Lamb’s constable, Wallace, is dealing with alcoholism and a fling with a woman who has secrets, and Lamb himself has to deal with a new sergeant who happens to be a fellow soldier from WWI who bears a grudge against Lamb. Not everything gets resolved, though the murders do get solved.
I’m not really a police procedural fan, but this seemed like a Foyle’s War type of thing so I gave it a shot. It was similar in some ways, but darker and more NC-17, and with fewer characters to really like. Some you could sympathize with even if you didn’t particularly like them, but I do prefer characters I can actually like. The setting was well done—very descriptive and evocative of the times. Believable, but I prefer less darkness.
I’m not really a police procedural fan, but this seemed like a Foyle’s War type of thing so I gave it a shot. It was similar in some ways, but darker and more NC-17, and with fewer characters to really like. Some you could sympathize with even if you didn’t particularly like them, but I do prefer characters I can actually like. The setting was well done—very descriptive and evocative of the times. Believable, but I prefer less darkness.
December 1, 2021
As an audiobook, this was worth only 2.5 stars. The narrator was terrible. The accents kept switching in the wrong places, and there were weird pauses. It made it very difficult to follow conversations, especially early in the book when I was trying to get to know the characters. There more I listened, however, the more I was able to imagine the words as they appeared on the page and tune out the voice saying them. Once I did that, I found there was a lot to like about the writing. The characters were complicated, and I was happy to realize that this is just the first book in a series. I would love to see where these people go next in their relationships. The mystery itself was pretty good too, although I was able to piece together the solution fairly easily. The way the story intermixed with the war going on in the background was also unique. The war was very much present in the story, and yet had very little impact on everything going on. I found that perspective unique, as I think it likely reflects the reality. Although war is the major historical event of that time, the people living through it still had all their regular day-to-day worries, work, and relationships to deal with. I would definitely get the next book in this series - but in print this time!
August 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews summed the book up thusly: "Perhaps too many subplots for Kelly to knit together with complete success but by no means too many to keep readers absorbed to the end." I concur. There is an awful lot going on in this book. I was able to follow most of it, despite the large number of peripheral characters, some of whom had similar names.
Once you've got , part of the story suggests itself. But then you've got witchcraft, gambling, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, learning disabilities, abusive relationships, and more. It's surprising that the author managed to keep track of it all (although I could swear he got the missing arm wrong once, in describing Arthur's injury).
All-in-all, it was not a bad story, despite one jarring Americanism, one possible anachronism involving photography, and a certain vagueness regarding Peter-the-savant's disabilities.
There is (so far) a second book in the series, and I would not hesitate to read it. Maybe because I am one of those who likes the show Foyle's War, to which this book has been likened.
(3.5 stars)
Once you've got , part of the story suggests itself. But then you've got witchcraft, gambling, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, learning disabilities, abusive relationships, and more. It's surprising that the author managed to keep track of it all (although I could swear he got the missing arm wrong once, in describing Arthur's injury).
All-in-all, it was not a bad story, despite one jarring Americanism, one possible anachronism involving photography, and a certain vagueness regarding Peter-the-savant's disabilities.
There is (so far) a second book in the series, and I would not hesitate to read it. Maybe because I am one of those who likes the show Foyle's War, to which this book has been likened.
(3.5 stars)
March 6, 2024
An excellent debut mystery, masterfully plotted and paced. Protagonist DCI Thomas Lamb is a compelling character and the subsidiary characters are well drawn without the story becoming a soap opera of subplots. Set in the South Coast of England in the early days of the Blitz, the tension of an impending invasion nicely gins up the suspense as the police struggle to solve a murder, that becomes a series of murders.
My only problem - and maybe it's me - was I could never take the author's descriptions of the locations and picture them in my head. The rights and lefts, easts and west, the woods and fields and what they were adjacent to, etc. never came together in a sensible fashion. I'm a big fan of maps and floorplans.
My only problem - and maybe it's me - was I could never take the author's descriptions of the locations and picture them in my head. The rights and lefts, easts and west, the woods and fields and what they were adjacent to, etc. never came together in a sensible fashion. I'm a big fan of maps and floorplans.
October 16, 2017
While German bombers are flying overhead, life in a small village in Hampshire village remains peaceful until Will Blackwell, an elderly loner, is brutally murdered, a murder that bears the hallmarks of the traditional killing of a witch. Then a more deaths follow, that of a pregnant young woman whose fighter pilot lover is violently killed and a local drunkard whose hit over the head. Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb struggles to see what connection there might be among these crimes other than, perhaps, the occult. Well written and effectively evokes rural England during WW II, although the plot is occasionally a bit unbelievable.
October 3, 2018
I love mysteries set in English villages and I enjoyed how Kelly wound the everyday lives of the World War II era into the plot. I also liked the character of Thomas Lamb -- very human, with faults and weak spots, but very likable. That said, I felt there was too much going on in the way of subplots that sometimes touched only peripherally on the plot. I think someone else commented on how the ending felt rushed; to me it was more a case of "I'll just have the murderer explain everything in the last 5 pages so I don't have to reveal it through the story line." All the same, I plan to read the next books in the series and hope they will perk up a bit.
January 12, 2026
Heavy story with a good flow. You get to know the main characters due to strong descriptions from the very start. I did not care for the change of perspective/people narrating/places without an abrupt break. One paragraph it's a woman walking in the woods and the next paragraph, the perspective is from a bomber pilot thousands of feet in the air. ***I did not finish this book as I do not like to read books involving child abuse. The reader is quite a ways into the story before that underlining issue becomes evident. A trigger warning needs to be attached to this book's advertising when possible.
September 18, 2019
I almost gave up on this book, but decided to plow on..and I am glad I did. It starts out rather slowly, and really didn't grab me until a couple of chapters in. I liked the characters, especially Peter who struggled to get a message across to the few he considered friendly faces. It took a while to understand the message, but once done, it solved the mystery of the murders in the village. The side stories of the Nazi pilot and Vera/Arthur were interesting. I will definitely be seeking out #2 in this series.
January 12, 2025
just not for me
If you want a WWII murder drama you will like this. Including genuine fire fights and pilots bios felt authentic. The setting and the language for the time period are great. My bad — I thought this was more of a cozy mystery so there were more bodies than I expected. Nicely paced overall. I had trouble keeping track of the mostly male characters at first but got used to that. Might be a nice series to follow up if all that sounds good to you. And yes I had a cheese-and-pickle sandwich as I read along, too.
If you want a WWII murder drama you will like this. Including genuine fire fights and pilots bios felt authentic. The setting and the language for the time period are great. My bad — I thought this was more of a cozy mystery so there were more bodies than I expected. Nicely paced overall. I had trouble keeping track of the mostly male characters at first but got used to that. Might be a nice series to follow up if all that sounds good to you. And yes I had a cheese-and-pickle sandwich as I read along, too.
January 8, 2022
What a great read.
I am sucker for British police drama TV shows - especially period ones and this book was exactly what I needed.
The story is set in the WWII rural England and follows Chief Inspector Lamb and his team investigating a series of murders.
The writing is good, the mystery is "mysterious" enough to be interesting and the characters have substance.
Looking forward to the next adventures of Inspector Lamb.
I am sucker for British police drama TV shows - especially period ones and this book was exactly what I needed.
The story is set in the WWII rural England and follows Chief Inspector Lamb and his team investigating a series of murders.
The writing is good, the mystery is "mysterious" enough to be interesting and the characters have substance.
Looking forward to the next adventures of Inspector Lamb.
November 8, 2019
Skillfully crafted and fast paced, this book kept me on the edge of my seat. The way the final pieces of the mystery fell into place and how the author revealed the true killer was so perfectly orchestrated and written that I saw it unfolding perfectly in my head as I read! Such detail and yet so much surprise at the end! Very fun read for any mystery lover!
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