TRIGGER WARNING: sexual abuse
1941: years ago Josephine Fox left Romsey under a cloud, rejected by her family due to being illegitimate. Now she returns to search for her father. She arrives just after a devastating bomb attack on the local pub. But one body was a murder victim instead of dying in the bomb blast...
The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox is a murder mystery set in war torn England. The gender and class norms of the era play a significant role in the plot as well as character development. There are references to sexual abuse in the past but they are not explicit or graphic.
I felt so sorry for Josy: the rejection of her family for circumstances beyond her control seems so cruel yet authentic in light of the era the book is set in. She also has issues in her marriage which are revealed over the course of the book. Her childhood and recent past with Bram Nash leads to both conflict and affinity as they work together on the case.
A teen's body is pulled out of the bomb destroyed pub with no damage to it. Bram, the coroner, refuses to sign the death certificate until he is satisfied on the cause of death. Josy becomes Bram's assistant and begins to investigate which puts her and others in danger. Meanwhile she is searching for a connection to the father that ruined her mother's life and never acknowledged his child.
The narrative flits from Josy's first person experience to other perspectives in the third person (almost all Bram but a little from the victim). There are some peeks at the past for Bram and Josy but also Ruby just before her death. This adds depth to the characters and their circumstances. Josy and Bram find themselves judged due to their pasts and I was keen for them to rekindle their friendship, if not more.
The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox is an enjoyable murder and mystery novel with strong lead characters.

I do not know how this ended up on my shelf since I have not requested it. I am sorry to inform you that I will not be reviewing it. Also it is only for kindle when I use the protected download because I read on my phone

1941 Romsey based whodunit

Our main character Jo is on her return to Romsey the town of her birth. Jo, an illegitimate child, has been made to carry the guilt of her mother’s dalliance and was finally banished from Romsey at age 14 by her grandfather after the death of her grandmother.

Jo then flees to London and later rekindles her relationship with her mother during her dying days, who let’s slip her father is still alive and living in Romsey. Jo, now a more confident adult is determined to find her father and know the truth.

However, Jo arrives just after a bomb has hit the local pub, the search for bodies soon turns into the murder investigation of a young girl. Jo persuades her old friend the coroner Nash Bram to employ her as his assistant; they have history from childhood and London.

The investigation of the dead girl opens up a story of historic abuse on a large scale, and Jo's family are intertwined throughout, how can Nash and Jo bring these people to justice and will resolving this murder give Jo the truth of her past?

An entertaining story which kept my attention, the characters are well-formed and you can feel their trauma as events unfold. It was an easy read, and I would recommend this book.

Taramindo.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Engaging historical mystery with a good sense of place and an interesting plot. Josephine Fox is returning to her once home of Romsey, England, after some twenty years of absence. The year is 1941 and the town has suffered a bombing - when bodies are discovered in the local public house there is one in particular that sparks a mystery. An intriguing read.

This started out so brilliantly but lost its way about halfway through. I loved the characters to begin with but never really got the feeling they developed further than what they were at the beginning. Initially, the book was so intriguing, but then the mystery become so obvious about 1/3 through, so it all really panned out the way I thought at that point. Not necessarily a bad thing, but from the first impression, I did not think this would be the case, I thought, she would have me guessing all the way through. I think this will be a series, so might check out the next one.

My thanks to Bonnier Zaffre for an eARC via NetGalley of Claire Gradidge’s ‘The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox’ in exchange for an honest review.

Gradidge’s debut novel won the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition and was published on 8th August. It is a historical mystery set in April 1941.

Josephine (Jo) Fox hasn’t been home to Romsey for over twenty years. After the death of her grandmother, just before she turned fourteen her authoritarian grandfather had thrown her out. Although her grandparents had raised her, she was never allowed to forget that she was illegitimate. She traveled to London where her mother was living. With her mother’s recent death she decided to return in order to discover the identity of her father.

She is acutely aware of negative feelings from some members of the community. Just before she had arrived a local pub was bombed. The rescue teams located the bodies of seven people that had been in the pub but were surprised to find an eighth body. It is of a young woman whose body doesn’t appear to have suffered the kind of injuries associated with a bomb.

Jo’s childhood friend, Bram Nash, is now the local coroner. He employs Jo as his assistant and together they investigate this death while Jo continues to seek information about her parentage.

Technically Jo’s surname is Lester as in the interim years she had married. We do get details of her marriage and the whereabouts of her husband and some episodes from her childhood. Nash had been injured during the Great War and now wears a metallic mask to conceal his disfigurement. I grew quite fond of both he and Jo.

I found this a highly engaging mystery with a well realised historical setting. It is quite dark in places and certainly delivered on some interesting twists.

Indeed I would love it if there were more mysteries for Jo and Bram to investigate.

A really good read true to life for 1940’s but not dated in any way. A genuine who dun it with plenty of twists and turns through out. Written from the heroine’s viewpoint giving a women’s ideal perspective BUT it is not just a women’s book far from it and the heroine is very modern in attitude and actions.
Would really recommend this book and would like to read more from the author.

This is a historical book with an unusual setting.
I enjoyed this book but it was a bit predictable. The author did struggle to keep the pace going throughout the book.

I had high hopes for this novel. Murder mystery set during World War 2.

For me, however, this novel did not make the heights I thought it would. The story was light, almost to light, and I found some of the characters cliched.

I got the idea that this might go onto being a series, so it might get a bit meatier in the next episode.

This is a mystery with an interesting, WWII, setting. It is 1941 and Josephine Fox arrives at her childhood home, with a mission. Nearly forty years ago, her grandfather put her on a train to London, and she has not returned since. However, since her mother died, Josephine is determined to find out who her father really was and why a story in a local newspaper terrified her mother. What, or who, did she recognise?

Josephine arrives on the night there is a bombing raid and an unknown corpse is pulled from The Cricketers Arms; throwing a murder mystery into the mix, as Josephine begins to confront her past and the people who rejected her, all those years ago. Overall, I enjoyed this, although it was a touch predictable. The author could not quite keep the interesting opening going, but I could see this becoming a series, and it might improve once the storyline has moved away from being just about the main character. It was wise to begin this near the beginning of the war, so there are lots of interesting, historical events, to explore. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

It is WWII and the country is at war. One lady, Josephine Fox, has her own battles to face. Thrown out of Romsey at the age of 14 by her Grandfather, Josephine is back to face the people who despised her as a child and to find out the truth about who her father was. She has only been there a day and she is caught up with a murder investigation.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and had high hopes for it. However, I felt that it went a bit down hill becoming very predictable. The characters that had started out well didn’t develop as I had hoped and become quite cardboard in their personalities. I really hoped that this book was going to be a bit different with depth and an interesting storyline but unfortunately it became quite mediocre.

There isn’t anything wrong with the book & it just wasn’t anything special. The situation that unfolded did become predictable – lets leave this vulnerable old person alone over night before going back for answers in the morning – oh look they got murdered overnight taking their secrets to the grave – what a surprise. This happened on more than one occasion – very lazy writing. There is a whole section of the book where Josephine goes off to find the murdered girl’s brother. This turned out to be a total waste of time & was never completely finished. Just padding really.

As a light basic detective book it is below average, readable and not terrible but not great.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

* spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars

I think I was expecting an Agatha Christie type book here,but this was far grittier... Or at least a darker subject matter.
Two very good central characters,who I hope make it to another book,and a surrounding cast that mostly seem very pleasant.
The whole murder/mystery father thing was always going to be the same person I think,and my main suspect was grandfather from the off. 
Once that idea was dismissed it wasn't hard to work out who did it.
An enjoyable read,even taking out the illegal elements,just on how life was back then .

Brilliant read! Jo Fox returns to her childhood home to research her family and to find out who her father was. She gets a job with the local coroner, an old friend, and is soon involved in an investigation into the death of a young woman. A death which reveals more than she bargained for about her own family. This is an enthralling read which kept me turning the pages late into the night! A fab setting, WW2 Romsey, characters you really care about and an intriguing and exciting story! Highly recommended!

What a great read, couldn't put it down. Set in 1941, a woman returns to her childhood hometown to try to discover her past. Whilst helping the local coroner to investigate a murder, uncomfortable secrets from the past are dredged up.
The book is beautifully written, with excellent characters that charm and frustrate you at the same time. The small-mindedness of some of the characters is excellently portrayed and gives a real feel of the time. The narrative flows very smoothly.
Highly recommended.