The Stratford Murder

The Blitz Detective #4

by Mike Hollow

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.

For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho
Strangler, who murdered four women a few years ago but has never been caught - could there be a connection?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, War, Fiction, Historical, Detective, Historical Mystery

413 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2018

About the author

I first got into print when I was eleven. A boys’ comic published a feeble limerick I’d sent them and paid me five shillings, a fat sum at that age. But the postal order was nothing compared with seeing my words in print.

After that I kept writing – teenage poems for a late-1960s “underground magazine”, then grown-up poems, and later a happy mix of copywriting, journalism, editing and translating. All ways of getting paid for playing with words.

My CV? I was born in 1953 in the Essex County Borough of West Ham – home of the Blitz Detective – on the eastern edge of London. I grew up mainly in Romford and went to the Royal Liberty School, then studied Russian and French at Cambridge University.

My first job was translating for the BBC, and I did various jobs there for sixteen years before moving to work in communications for development agency Tearfund, travelling widely in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2002 I went freelance as a writer, editor and creative project manager. Now I earn a living by translating and spend the rest of my time in the cellar of my house in Hampshire chronicling the adventures of the Blitz Detective.

Why write detective novels? Because I enjoy reading them and I love to create entertaining stories. Why set them in that place and time? Because overnight the Blitz turned everyday existence into a life-and-death struggle for ordinary people – and some of them were my family.

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent read!

Set during the London Blitz, DI Jago embarks on solving a murder that happened to a young woman which bears all the hallmarks of a suspected serial killer - the Soho strangler.
I don’t usually read historical fiction as I have a history degree and often end up reading the book as if it were a piece of source material as opposed to fiction. Hollows’ novel however, was so excellently and nostalgically written that I found myself immersed in the book and completely invested in the characters.
The novel itself has an Agatha Christie meets televisions Inspector Lewis feel to it. It unwinds with clues and a myriad of suspicious and fabulously eclectic characters that keeps the reader totally captivated.
I imagine this would make an excellent tv drama series and could almost see it on the Beeb.
Highly recommend!

[Toni Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book#4, in The Blitz Detective series

The London Blitz may be the background for this story but the murder mystery could have been staged anywhere and could have taken place in recent years. In this 4th installment Detective Inspector John Jago and Detective Constable Peter Cradock are called to the scene where a young woman was murdered, strangled with a nylon stocking and near her they found a sailor’s cap.

I love how the author drips slowly clues to Jago in his investigation to keep the tension going and our interest at its peak. The plot is very well written to takes us through the investigation without any fluffs, it is simple and to the point. Questioning witnesses is the key to a thorough investigation and the story does not shy away from doing a lot of it. A good murder case has its moment of emotional strain evidently we see how Jago and Cradock face those moments while searching for answers. Why stay with only one case, on a second front and during the painstaking search the inspectors stumble into a robbery at the theater that need also their full attention. What excels in this mystery is the interrelation between the two protagonists, how they communicate and complete each other. Mr. Hollow knows how important good dialogue is. We are well served with a good dose of excellent exchanges.

To sum up:

“Firing Line” is a well-plotted storyline with excellent narration and dialogue played out by two wonderful protagonists and great secondary characters….what’s not to love. I am looking forward to book #5.

I received this ARC from Lion Hudson LTD via NetGalleys

[Archana Aggarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley. This was my introduction to the author and the series and I enjoyed it. i like historical mysteries. They add to the fantasy feel. I am looking forward to reading the back list and future novels.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Stratford Murder is the 4th in the The Blitz Detective series of books by Mike Hollow. It's October 1940 and Jago and Craddock are called to investigate the murder of a young woman, in her home during another night of bombing. Joan Lewis worked as an usherette at a local cinema and was married to Richard who is serving in the army and has been reported as missing potentially a POW. Joan is also pregnant but it's clear that the child can not be Richard's. Investigating the murder leads Jago and Craddock to the cinema where she worked where they interview the manager and Joan's colleagues. It is revealed that also during the night the cinema has been burgled and the safe broken into with money and "personal papers" of the manager stolen. This provides a secondary story line throughout the novel that neatly wraps together with the main investigation into Joan's death.

I have particularly enjoyed all of the Blitz Detective novels so far and this one was no exception. The story was interesting with just the right amount of twists and turns but what I particularly enjoy about this series is Hollow's ability to transport you back to the place and time of the Blitz. He creates a city that is being torn apart by the bombing but still remains resilient as community while at the same time acknowledging the individual trauma, tragedy and anxieties created by living in those conditions. Although we read of the Blitz Spirit and the way the community came together to support each other the complex and myriad characters of the people remained the same and they all dealt with the war in their own unique way and Hollow conveys this in his writings. The character development is one of the strongest points in the novels including the community of Stratford as a character in it's own right. Although Jago is a reserved and private man enough is revealed about him for the reader to feel a respect for him and Craddock, as a younger, less experienced officer, is depicted in a way the reader can feel affection for him. Although these are stand alone mysteries there is a continuing plotline developing in the background with personal relationships in the lives of Jago and Craddock, these are enough to make them more than just policemen to the readers but are subtle in the plot development. Without a doubt this series have been reading treats I will come back to.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

During a night of bombing in London a young woman is found dead in a West Ham bedroom -- but it's immediately clear that the shells didn't kill her. Detective Inspector John Jago and his cohort Constable Craddock are soon on the job, and it rapidly becomes a tale of muddled identity -- was she "on the game" or not? Was she the victim of a serial killer? -- interspersed with the sad tale of lives and families disrupted by war, and not necessarily on the firing line itself. The clues and the truths and untruths begin piling up, and it's up to Jago and Craddock to separate what is real and what isn't.

However, it's the story within the story that takes precedence in this, the fourth book in the series. The mystery almost fades in the background as the author opens up Detective Jago's personality and future plans as he thinks more and more about what Dorothy, the American journalist that has become part of his life, means to him. These thoughts and ideas, expressed in fine prose, make Jago even more engaging of a character. The author has a habit of stepping into the pages of his books and revealing his thoughts and ideas through his characters, which can be overwhelming at times. I just don't want to see Jago’s changing perceptions get the best of him. That would affect my appreciation of future stories.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy ahead of publication, in exchange for an honest review.

[Iola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firing Line by Mike Hollow is part of the The Blitz Dectective series. It's a police procedural following Detective Inspector John Jago as he investigates murders in London's East End during the Blitz, those months in 1940 when the Germans were routinely bombing British cities, especially London.

As is almost expected with a murder mystery, Firing Line opens with the discovery of a body. Joan Lewis has been strangled, but her body is found behind a locked door. How? Was her assailant known to her? Where did the Navy uniform hat come from? And the hard-to-get American nylons?

The novel also addressed some of the political issues of the age, such as boy's clubs, greenshirts, and Social Credit (a political party I never understood, and understand even less now I know what it is).

Firing Line is the fourth novel in Mike Hollow's Blitz Detective series, but only the second one I've read (I reviewed Enemy Action a few weeks ago). It's a standalone mystery, so it won't matter if you haven't. I did find I appreciated some of the subtle humour in the interactions between Jago and Detective Constable Craddock all the more for having read one of the earlier books. I do enjoy the dry British humour.

Firing Line is a good read for mystery lovers. Recommended.

Thanks to Lion Fiction and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a fan of "Foyle's War" I was expecting a good involving read. A self sufficient woman in her forties, volunteering as an ARP warden in 1940 East London, comes across the body of a murdered young woman. The ARP warden lost her husband in the First World War after a brief marriage, for most of which he was away at the Front, and has little to live for, only feeling alive during the bombing. She was a really interesting character and I would have loved to read more about her, but apart from another brief cameo, not in her point of view, she doesn't feature. Instead the rest of the story consists of the plodding viewpoint of the investigating officer and his rookie sidekick.

Things are repeatedly spelled out despite being obvious and there's quite a bit of research on show which often seems unnecessary, yet I did wonder about certain aspects. I know this is early on in the war but there wasn't much awareness of rationing, people were often tucking into fruit cake and the like, and the police use of a car, though permitted, did seem a bit too routine. I also didn't find the characters well developed or the motive for murder and perpetrators convincing so can only rate this as an OK 2 stars, mainly for the potential of the ARP woman. A series about her investigating crimes in the Blitz truly would have been a winner.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ARP warden and a volunteer fireman find the body of a young woman in a dingy flat, strangled with a pair of the new nylons that have just been invented in America.

Detective Inspector John Jago is struck by the similarity with a string of murders of prostitutes a few years back by a person or persons unknown that the press dubbed the Soho Murderer - could this young woman be a prostitute?

When Jago discovers her identity there are more questions. Why did a married woman move out of her mother-in-law's house to rent a dingy flat? What happened to her wedding and engagement rings? Who is the father of her unborn child? Had she turned to prostitution? Was her death linked to the theft at the cinema where she worked as an usherette? Jago hears conflicting stories about the victim and he must sift the truth to catch the killer.

I liked this, I don't want to call them red herrings because I don't think they were there to mislead the reader, more we see potential evidence and review it alongside Jago.

I have also really started to enjoy the historical facts interwoven into the stories, I am not familiar with West Ham as an area but I love the descriptions of the buildings and the politics of the era, many of which have almost been forgotten.

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read from Mike Hollow.
Lots of description of parts of London during the blitz in 1940.
DI Jago (he of the Cornish surname) along with DC Cradock are investigating the death of a young woman, strangled by someone using one of her stockings. There are a host of people to interview, family, friends and work colleagues. She was an usherette at a local cinema which by coincidence had a robbery that same night. Are the things connected?
Jago has his hands full here and because of the case he finds a man who knew his father. Jago was just a boy when his father died and would love to hear some stories about him.
As he investigates some sad stories are thrown up giving more colour to the times.
He is still under the spell of American journalist Dorothy. She makes him feel alive, he is a man who has always gone on alone, duty first and all that, so she will hands full if she is interested in pursuing a future with him. Having fought in the First World War he has his own demons, hopefully Dorothy will prise him from his shell.

[Soozee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely series, set during the Second World War on the Home Front. DI John Jago is a man with a past, with demons from his time in the trenches from WW1 and his unrequited love life. Now he has met Dorothy, and is beginning to thaw.

Meanwhile a young woman is found murdered and Jago has to follow a lot of leads to find the perpetrators, and risk besmirching her good name in the process. When he discovers her place of employment has been burgled the same night, he wonders if there might be a connection. His trusty sidekick Cradock is there to provide a balanced view, as well as keep an eye out for any food opportunities!

Its a great read, fairly gentle and thoughtful but not hiding from the horrors of war at home.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 5th in the series with the Blitz as a late 1940 background and basically the same plot and process. The same caveats, of excessive information volunteered by each character and plenty of driving from place to place apply here as well as Jago and Cradock seek the killer of a young wife (whose husband may be a POW) strangled in her flat. Her husband’s family, her friends, her colleagues at the cinema at which she worked, plus a sailor on leave provide a range of suspects as her own behaviour may be a critical clue. Although very standard, these are involving.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4 in the Blitz series. Firstly, I like the characters. DI John Jago may not be good with his personal life but he’s serious about solving crimes. He and his sidekick Cradock meet all kinds of people in their investigations. Basically they go out and interview people until they solve murders and thefts.

London during the Blitz is a main character with the bombing, and then the deaths and fires that result. I think the period is well written.

There’s a sameness about each book, but they are still interesting reads.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set, as the series title indicates, during the London Blitz of 1940, this is proved to be an engaging and well written novel detailing the investigation by Inspector John Jago the the murder of an usherette, strangled with a nylon (considered exotic back then) stocking.

With well drawn characters and a fast paced narrative, this, the fourth in a hitherto undiscovered series, will undoubtedly be the precursor to the remainder.

[Susan Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is a new find for me and I’ll definitely seek out more. Set in the East End of London during the war, specifically at the time of the Blitz. The pace is as expected for policing in those days when there was very little forensics. The characters and plot reflected well 1940s London

DI Jago is the main character and although there’s a glimpse into his private life I don’t think it’s essential to read the books in order.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very much enjoying this series, reading them as e-books on my Kindle. The characters are well drawn, the scenarios feel authentic, and each book leaves you looking forward to the next.

In this case a young woman is found during a blackout strangled in her home. She works as a cinema usher, but there seems some possibility that she may be earning extra money by entertaining men in her home.

[Mary Zunino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good and interesting story.

The characters in the novel come to life illustrate how hard life was for them living in London during the blitz. My parents loved there and were bombed out of their home and were evacuated to Buckinghamshire, where I was born in late 1940. I would recommend these books to my family and friends.

[Olivia Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not my cuppa tea ☕

[Mr Derek Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read.

Once again a great plot. I really enjoy the background details as well as it lends itself to the time and is well researched. Thank you.

[Caren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Janet Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable..

[ANDREW]

Loving this series difficult to put down reads.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ another decent installment in the series

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this

[Marion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book in the Oxfam bookstore in Couch End. New series for me - “The Blitz Detective Investigates”

[Bill Cripps · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blend of who done it and history , easy read for those interested in the period.

[Lorraine Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this series and am looking forward to the next one. The storylines are good, the characters likeable, and the style of writing carries you along.

[Michelle Paquette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Gowri N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love how this book brings alive life in London during the Blitz. It's a solid police procedural that kept me reading. The problem is that it felt like reading a book in which Captain Hastings is the lead investigator.

Inspector Jago is not a fool but he behaves foolishly, barking long and hard up the wrong tree and wasting precious time not chasing the right leads. Any reader familiar with detective fiction would see the clues long before he does.

The other problem is with the writing. We never get to see how Jago thinks about detection or how his brain works. Very often, it's the food-shamed constable who comes up with clever ideas and patterns and Jago merely says, "Oh right, that's a good point." He even gives the constable full credit in front of his superior officer, which is a good thing, I suppose. Very honourable indeed.

We also have to put up with Jago mooning after an American journalist. If you didn't enjoy Hastings mooning after Cinderella in The Murder on the Links, you'll probably not enjoy this either. Luckily, not a lot of time is spent on this relationship.

Eventually, the killer is revealed through a process of elimination and not through any brilliance of the detective.

All in all, he's a jolly good fellow but a bumbler and that does make the book less than exciting.

[George McLay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book plenty characters and well written....Will defo read more from Mr Hollow

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firing Line is a superb historical mystery set against the backdrop of WWII.  I can easily imagine the story being made into a BBC miniseries. The characters are well developed and believable and the surroundings are clearly portrayed, bringing the blitz to life for the reader.


When a young woman is discovered strangled in her flat by an air warden and a fireman, Detective Inspector Jago and his constable first believe it might be the work of the Soho Strangler.  It is easy to assume that Joan was on the game, but Jago isn’t one to accept the easy solution. The only clues are a pair of nylons and a sailor’s hat. As Jago digs into Joan’s life and family, he finds things are much more complicated than he expected.  Family conflicts, a domineering mother in law, greed, and long hidden secrets all play a role.


I liked Firing Line a great deal and look forward to reading more of the Blitz Detective series.


5 / 5


I received a copy of Firing Line from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


— Crittermom