Distant Shadows

by April Taylor

1944: Helen Stokes, codename Claudette, is parachuted into France by the SOE. When her Paris cell is betrayed, only the action of Drew Kingsley, her senior instructor, gets her home to England. Her accusations of treachery lead to her being labelled a hysterical spinster and she is summarily dismissed. Using her training to evade discovery by the traitor she knows exists, Helen disappears.

1953: Helen, now Peggy Palmer is certain there is corruption in the allocation of contracts for London’s rebuilding. Appalled that everything she fought for is being debased, she writes anonymously to Drew, now Sir Andrew Kingsley. Bored by his Whitehall job, Drew believes Helen/Claudette wrote the letter and finds her. Without telling her, he recruits ex SOE agents to help bring the fraud to light.
Peggy finds herself forced to help, but she fears the traitor now knows who and where she is. Soon she finds those fears are well founded.

Genres: Crime

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2021

About the author

Crime Writer

Author of the Georgia Pattison Mysteries.

Standalones

Coming in 2023, the first in the Luke Ballard Tudor Mysteries. "Danger of Destiny", which will be followed by three re-edited and re-issued books formerly known as "The Tudor Enigma".

Reviews

[Stuart Aken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed many of April Taylor’s books, I was eager to see what this new novel had to offer. I was not disappointed.
Moving away from her musical mysteries and alternative history series, she has tackled a subject few really know much about. But, as is the way with this author, she uses an unusual and fascinating route for her tale.
Helen, codename Claudette, worked in France for the SOE during WWII. Her ability to form patterns from the behaviour of others has made her especially useful in the dangerous role. Perhaps too useful, and she is forced to flee when her role as radio operator for the Resistance is exposed. But this story, whilst rooted in that background, is set in London some years after her extraction from that danger. Discovering what seems to be massive fraud, she sets in train a series of events that again threaten her life. But who to trust in a world changed by time and her own mistrust of those she formerly relied on?
As always, April has done extensive research here and we are easily immersed in the post-war world of London in the 1950s. The language, manners and attitudes all convince us of the period. Her characters, whether heroines, heroes, or villains, are relatable and easy to empathise with. Uncertainty, mistrust and increasing danger inhabit the pages, growing as the story unfolds.
The denouement builds slowly, the tension ramping up to the final stages when the reader is unable to put down the book until the inevitable, and greatly satisfying, end is reached.
An absorbing, entertaining, moving, and well-told tale, which I enjoyed from beginning to end.

[Linda Acaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short opening chapter puts the reader on high alert, and the author does a brilliant job of conveying the tension, exhaustion, hunger, and constant fear inherent in being in an SOE operative in Paris during WW2. It underpins everything that follows. When, years later, the protagonist discovers corruption on a massive scale, the reader understands Peggy’s anger and need to see justice done as a way of mitigating the loss of those betrayed, and assuaging her own survivor guilt. For all this, Peggy Palmer is no superwoman. Despite, even because of, her instilled SOE training, the strain builds.

London’s 1950s rebuilding programme, the last vestiges of food rationing, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, all enhance the historical backdrop. The main and subsidiary characters are believable and do not show their true colours at first meeting, leaving the reader second-guessing motives and agendas. A cracking thriller.