An Empty Death

DI Ted Stratton #2

by Laura Wilson

From the award-winning author of The Innocent Spy comes the next book in this exceptional series set in WWII London Summer, 1944. After almost five years of conflict, London's inhabitants are exhausted.  War-weary DI Ted Stratton is no exception, but he cannot help being drawn in by his latest case. Called on to investigate when a doctor is found dead in Fitzrovia's Middlesex Hospital, Stratton soon realizes that someone involved is not who they appear to be. Someone has discarded their own identity, and that someone is on a killing spree. Meanwhile Jenny, Ted's wife, who is working at the local recovery center, is also running on fumes. When a bombed-out woman shows up, declaring that the man claiming to be her husband is an imposter, Jenny blames the woman’s confusion on shock. The reality, however, is much stranger and far more dangerous... Ultimately, for both Stratton and Jenny perhaps there is only one thing they can really their fear. And for one of them, that fear may prove to be all too real. An Empty Death is a thoroughly riveting thriller.  

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Historical Mystery, Crime, Historical

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Laura Wilson is an English crime-writer based in London, where she was born and raised. She has degrees in English Literature form Somerville College, Oxford, and University College London, and has worked as a teacher and editor of non-fiction.

Many of her novels have either a historical setting or a distinct historical connection, and often have split or dual narratives. Her first novel, A Little Death was shortlsited for a CWA Dagger award, and her fifth, The Lover was short listed for both the CWA Gold Dagger and the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger.

Reviews

[Lian Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable crime novel set during the London blitz. Wilson writes one of the best fictional evocations of the blitz I have read, with its depressing shortages and the sheer misery of having to keep going. The antagonist is surprisingly likable despite his crimes, and there are enough twists to make it a fascinating plot.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the evocation of time and place - compliments the plot perfectly. Wilson always seems to get it spot on.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is seriously growing on me. This book was so well-plotted my jaw was dropping at regular intervals. I love the main character Stratton and his entire family, including the totally obnoxious bro-in-law Reg. The picture she draws of London during the war feels so authentic. Everything in #2 is the best. I rarely give murder mysteries four stars but this is such satisfying fiction I could not give it less. Pick it up!

[Larraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love a good mystery. I DON’T love it when the person who is committing the murder is revealed at he beginning of the book. There is no subtlety here. Other authors manage to feature the murderer without revealing them. Won’t be reading anymore.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mystery set against the backdrop of WWII. The characters are well developed and have depth and character. The author switches viewpoints among three of the main characters and it makes for interesting development of the plot. I will admit I figured out the who of the murder fairly early in the book - but it was the characters that kept me reading. The book did give me a real surprise in the end.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book I have read in this series...basically a police procedural set during WWII in London...thoughtful plotting, well-developed characters, good writing...looking forward to more by this author. A good read.

[Al Stoess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off slowly. Good once I got into it. Interesting plot and characters.

[tinalouisereadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stratton is called upon to investigate the case of a dead doctor, found in suspicious circumstances on a bomb-site near Fitzrovia's Middlesex Hospital. Was it an affair that turned fatally sour, revenge for a fatal case of misdiagnosis, or, despite appearances, simply an unfortunate accident? Or, as Stratton begins to suspect, is there someone at the hospital who is not what he appears to be and will go to any lengths to protect his fake persona? Ted's wife, Jenny, working at the local Rest Centre, battles on valiantly although her spirit of make-do is wearing as thin as her clothing and she desperately misses her children, who are still evacuees in Suffolk.

My Thoughts:

This is the second in a series of books with DCI Stratton. I don’t think that it is important to have read the first one but as the characters are developing I think that it does help.

What I like about Stratton is that unlike some detectives he is a family man. He likes a drink down the local pub, and will look at ladies legs but he is for his family.

Laura Wilson can throw out a good tale. There is plenty going on and just when the reader thinks it is all sorted some spanner is thrown in the works. There was one particular incident in this book that I didn’t see coming and I was sorry to read.

I have enjoyed both this book and the previous one ‘Stratton’s War’ and will read the others. Diana Calthrop didn’t appear in this book but can see that she does appear in the next installment so the reader will no doubt catch up with her.

A very gripping read with plenty of thrills. Laura Wilson is a favourite author of mine and I would highly recommend her books.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Empty Death is the second book in the DI Ted Stratton series set in London during the Second World War. In this outing, Stratton is investigating the suspicious death of a doctor on a bomb site. His nosing around the hospital that Dr Reynold’s work at quickly ruffles feathers and spooks one doctor in particular – Dr Dacre is an imposter that has used Reynold’s death to pass himself off as a medical doctor and take over his position. Meanwhile, Jenny Stratton is helping to care for a bomb victim who is suffering from mental health issues, creating tensions at home. Wilson tells the tale as three main strands: Stratton’s investigation, Dr Dacre’s perspective, and Jenny’s care of Mrs Ingram. Wilson patiently unfolds the plot, in particular fleshing out the main characters and filling out their backstories. The pace is a little slow at times and the Ingram strand felt a little bolted on for much of the story, but eventually it comes into its own as the three strands are pulled tight. Rather than finish the story at the main climax – which is a twist with real affect – Wilson does a nice job of letting it continue to unfold to another twist and natural denouement, though this one was telegraphed from a long way out. Overall, an engaging police procedural with emotional depth.

[Zora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. Having read a really good book a week ago, I feel like I'm having to appease the reading gods by reading some not very good books. And with this one, it's a shame, for it started well, with a sweet portrait of DI Stratton and his wife's mature but still loving marriage. And it ended well, with a solution to the mystery that was surprising but logical. But the whole Mrs. Ingram subplot ruined it. Here (spoilers) is the situation. A total stranger is homeless. You take her in (though you certainly don't have to), wherein she begins to exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia. She soon STABS you in the arm. And despite that you have a 16 year old daughter at home, you let her stay. Wait, you're saying, nobody does this. Of course! NOBODY DOES THIS. Not in 1944, not ever.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of hospital murders in wartime London

[Randy Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's not great, first book was a little better, but the last 3rd or so really makes up for slow start

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good mystery and a good description of WWII England

[Andy Plonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

What went on in London toward the end of WWII. Doctors and policemen and a bit of romance, the characters are unique and realistic.

[Patrdr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story grabbed me more and more as it went on, right to the ending.
The setting, 1944 London during the blitz, is terrific. This is a close-knit, English London, relatives living near to hand.
A doctor's corpse is found in a bombed out field of rubble. The autopsy confirms foul play and there are pleanty of likely bricks and rubble to have provided the instrumnt.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man, Todd, is working as a mortuary assistant. He really wants to be a doctor and he spots the opportunity of the openning. He has been pocketing medical equipment and textbooks to study up. Todd departs the scent and Dr. Daicher shows up, welcomed by the shortstaffed hospital administrators who don't pay too much attention to his credentials. Another murder at the hospital follows. Dr. Daicher wants not only to be an MD but to win the heart of a beautiful nurse. He soon succeeds.
Ted Stratton is the overworked London police inspector assigned to the case. Awakened by a nearby V1 rocket strike he helps rescue a woman buried in a house that has collapsed. The rescued woman, unbalanced but released from hospital, is taken in by Stratton's sister-in-law.

The plot lines, inevitably, merge. It could be very complicated and contrived, but it works out naturally and believably and darkly. Frequently I felt I knew what was coming, but instead found myself jarred by a darker and deeper twist of the plot. I was worried that comic stock characters -a lazy and flatulent constable for example- would play too large a role. But this wasn't so. The characters at the centre are realistic and interesting.
Whets my appetite for more of Wilson's books. This was my first.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the middle of the Blitz, and someone is murdering people associated with the Middlesex Hospital in London. DI Ted Stratton (whose second adventure this is; I haven't read the first) is put in charge of the investigation, and proceeds to get nowhere fast, not least because he and his wife Jenny are stuck with a bomb survivor called Mrs Ingram who's suffering from Capgras Syndrome -- the condition whereby people start to believe that those around them have been replaced by simulacra.

We get the solution to part of the murder mystery quite early on; the other part of the solution becomes fairly obvious not too long thereafter, although Wilson makes an efort to hold it back until the end. At that stage she produces a Gotcha! clue to the killer's identity that unfortunately doesn't work.

(One of the killers is an impersonator. Stratton cottons onto the other when that person claims they got a piece of information from the impersonator when he was in one guise, a piece of information the impersonator could have had only when in a different guise. But it could equally well have been the impersonator, not the killer, who slipped, divulging the datum to the killer while in the wrong identity.)

I had quite a lot of difficulty getting to grips with this novel and, since it's a long book (the page count's a bit misleading, since the print's small and the margins narrow), more than once thought of abandoning it. In the end I'm glad I didn't, because in many respects it's an impressive piece of work and some of the sequences are more exciting than you expect to find in yer average mystery novel. Recommended with reservations.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely poor decision on the part of the antagonist combines with multiple and separate instances of shoddy basic human resources work to put a real damper on an otherwise good read. Wilson once again does a solid job of evoking the time and place of London blitzed during WWII and provides an interesting and--for the most part--likable cast of characters. And while the story does require a high level of suspension of disbelief on the above points, it otherwise does a nice job in terms of development. In particular, Wilson gets points for not taking the easy and obvious course with regard to how she ultimately resolves things. While a sequel to THE INNOCENT SPY, it comes very close to being a standalone, as the two share little more than some characters and their roles. As such, a reader can easily enjoy the second (albeit weaker) outing without having read the first. A good read in spite of not being quite as good as its predecessor, and recommended for fans of the genre--as long as they accept a bit of eye-rolling with regard to some plot points as things move along.

[Elsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Londres, 1944. Alors que les V2 sifflent sur la ville et détruisent au hasard nombre de bâtiments, un inspecteur de police est requis pour enquêter sur la mort mystérieuse d'un médecin au sein d'un hôpital. Alors que rien n'avance, les morts s'accumulent, infirmière, médecin légiste... car c'est un usurpateur qui mène la danse.

Une mort absurde, c'est surtout une histoire absurde. L'originalité du récit est de croiser à la fois le regard de l'enquêteur et celui du criminel. Cependant, l'enquêteur appairait plutôt comme un personnage falot, peu perspicace et le meurtrier comme un sombre usurpateur dont les motivations mettent assez longtemps à apparaître. La mort absurde d'un des personnages n'apporte rien à la trame de l'histoire et seul le dénouement final réveille un peu cette enquête quelque peu soporifique. Quant au style, il est bien maigre et sans relief. Peut être l'effet d'une médiocre traduction. Cependant, voici un polar plus que dispensable.

[Commentaire réalisé à partir de la lecture des épreuves non corrigées du roman]

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilson's last novel, The Innocent Spy was rather interesting in that it illuminated the domestic side of WWII in Britain. This one does an even better job - the bombings, the rationing, the chaos of life lived during war. The back and forth between Stratton and Dacre didn't annoy me as much as I thought it would; both stories were fairly strong, which helped.

The subplot of Mrs. Ingram was the weakest part of the story, and I felt that that whole line, including what happened with Jenny Stratton, was tacked on. Also, there were only brief mentions of what happened in the first novel (like Stratton, I wondered about some of the characters involved), which I thought could have been developed more or left out entirely. Still, Stratton's character is interesting, and I may have to read the next one.

[Stevie Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as a free signed copy at a writing event over a year ago, and I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get round to reading it. The second DI Stratton book, and we're in possibly the bleakest part of the war for those in London. Like my first review of this set, there are some well-researched glimpses of psychiatric conditions, which we understand better now than the characters did then. A couple of the events took me completely by surprise, and Stratton's immediate and delayed actions to them are extreme by our standars, and even by those of 1970's cop shows. There's comic relief, though, provided by the obnoxious brother-in-law Reg and some lighter, if not comic moments from the lady who takes in Stratton's children as evaccuees. Another series I plan to catch up with eventually.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured every moment of this book and was catapulted right back to the conditions of the Second World War in London. The author magically weaves two complex story's which capture a range of human emotion and frailties. With murders, adulatory, impersonation the story moves along at a cracking pace.

I've not read the first novel but I didn't feel that that detracted from the story at all but I will read it just to get a bit more of the back story of DI Ted Stratton and family.

Of all the books I've read/listened to recently which are of this genre it's an absolute joy to find characters which show affection to one an other and don't have disfunctional family members.

I think this is my first book narrated by Sean Barrett and he brought all the characters to life superbly.

Well worth the credit and I'm so glad I found Ted :)

[Nelda Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in the Ted Stratton series continues WWII London, grey with shortages, worry, and the dust of bombings. For someone born since 1990 some what happens would be unthinkable--like pubs closing on weekends because there is no beer. And, it is these little details and privations that are so evocative. Laura Wilson spares no one. There are two shocking deaths and lots of plot twists. This novel focuses on the medical world and an impersonator. From the beginning we sort of assume he is the killer of the first victum. A little slow and convoluted at times, especially when detailing some of the slog of police work this is nonetheless a good read and at times a page flipper.

[Nancy Seaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in the series with DI Ted Stratton in London during the Second World War. You don't need to read them in order. There was only a short, and apparently pointless reference to the first, An Innocent Spy. This is not a pleasant read. Bombs are falling on families while the police struggle with the usual problems. The central character here is a man who assumes other people's identities. I'm not sure why it was so exciting. It takes places over some time and no one, except maybe Stratton's boss, seems to be in a hurry to solve the crimes. But somehow I was reading fast and peeking ahead. Must have been the writing. A good read if you want an escapist thriller.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the series. Once again set in WWII London the book mixes a riveting procedural with precise period detail. This time the vetran police officer is on the tail of an identity thief who murders to protect his new life. In addition to the mystery there is a strong subplot involving the ravages of a PTSD variant. Add a shocking twist at the end and you pretty much have a perfect reading experience

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty weird book. A bit over-plotted and hard to follow. But this is also the third writer I've encountered in the last few years who's taken the nasty step of offing the protagonist's significant other, which seems like a cheap choice, as well as cutting off one's developing relationship with primary characters. I hope she can salvage things with the next in the series.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although as we'll written as the first book in this series, half if this one is told from the viewpoint of a character I didn't like, which--for ne--made it far less enjoyable. Also, the death was indeed "empty" and heartbreaking. But I realize that I'm basically a weeny in my reading habits; I don't want to feel too uncomfortable!

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Laura Wilson has a wonderful ability to capture the day to day alongside the mayhem that is Wartime London.
She perfectly evokes the struggle of rationing and shortages and trying to carry on working when you are exhausted by sleeping in shelters.
I love the characters, they are so real.
I have read the first two books in this series and can't wait to read the next one.

[Rachel Nowakowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was amazingly impressed with this series of books. The main character is brilliantly wrought. I don't usually read this type of historical setting but the detail and atmosphere that she has created and the passage of time really impressed me. I found the whole series a very satisfying read.

[Dianeparente62gmail.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is my first Laura Wilson and I am a fan and eager follower! Set in London as WWII lingers on, the author captures the atmosphere of fatigue that Londoners are experiencing. An intriguing mystery with a wide cast of varied characters unfolds and holds the reader's interest until the last word.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways this series is nothing special, but it does give a great feel for London during the war. Also characters are complex and intersting, both the bad guys and the good.