This is a twisty historical mystery that left me guessing until the end. When a British housewife is murdered under cover of a Blitz bombing, the crime scene is virtually obliterated, then further compromised by search and rescue workers before they even know a crime has been committed?. How can the investigator figure out who the killer is? Especially when he and the entire constabulary are already horribly overworked, dealing with staffing shortages caused by military enlistments, having to handle the aftermath of nightly bombings by Nazi Germany, and criminal gangs taking full advantage of both to create an outright crime spree?

Set in London during WWII and the Blitz of German bombings a murder takes place. Scotland Yard becomes involved and the story becomes a murder mystery with life in London during this historical time as a backdrop.
I really enjoyed reading this book.
Great characters and a great story line.

Entertaining historical crime mystery set during the London Blitz. This was a quick read and I appreciated the sweet romance.

My major critique is that the female protagonist, Penny, is passive. Things happen to her, but she doesn’t do anything to propel the plot forward. I wish more was done with her character and I would have liked her to have had a bigger role in solving the mystery.

A minor critique is that there’s an excessive use of exclamation marks. I’m a heavy user of exclamation points in text messages and work emails, but it was distracting to see so many per page in a novel. For example, one page has 8 exclamation points (and that wasn’t an anomaly). I started to silently sigh to myself every time I saw an exclamation point. I’ve never been so put out by punctuation before. (I know it seems petty to focus so much on exclamation points but I promised NetGalley I’d provide honest feedback in exchange for this ARC so I’m just following through.)

Overall, I enjoyed this book and plan on checking out Pam Lecky’s other books.

This book is set in London during WWII. There has been a murder that was made to look like the results of a bombing. Scotland Yard has the case. This book gives an accurate presentation of what it was like to be a resident of London during this time period. The book was well written with an interesting story line. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

I thought this really worked as a historical fiction novel, it had a strong concept and that the characters worked in this universe. It uses the historical period perfectly and glad I got to meet these characters overall. Pam Lecky has a great writing style and it worked with everything that I wanted. I thought the cover worked and was glad it worked with the story.

September 1940 London is under attack the Luftwaffe has been bombing continuously the city. While preparing dinner Madeleine Fairfax is caught in her kitchen as a bomb explodes, now trapped under the rubble of her house her only hope is that someone will come to her aid. When she sees a familiar face her prayers seemed to have been answered only to be dashed as she is tragically strangled to death... Detective Jamie Barton and Madeline’s sister Penny Fairfax will find the truth behind the mystery....

Although the London Blitz may be a player here, the story is more a very suspenseful mystery. The author unravels her mystery bit by bit and by doing so she has hooked me 1/3 in and from then on I was more than captivated. The beginning was rather slow to take off I was wondering what happened to Madeleine she seemed to have been forgotten but no ...leaving her behind was the author’s ways to keep us on our toes till Jamie Barton and Penny Fairfax came into play then springs into action the investigation and I was into a suspenseful and very captivating drama. What happened to Madeleine and who killed her was a mystery unveiled at the very end.

Great characters to root for and a delightful mystery to past time with.

Well-said and well-done.

An engaging and interesting mystery set during the London Blitz. I hope this is the beginning of a new series and a new romance.

Exciting and realistic. Well developed characters and I couldn't stop reading it. There were surprises and many tense moments. I felt for the family as they discovered who their daughter really was. I Loved this novel!

I liked this a lot! It is set in London in WWII during the Blitz which is an endlessly fascinating topic to me (I’m a bit morbid, I know). There is a murder almost disguised as the aftermath of a Blitz attack.I love the main characters, Jamie and Penny. He is a cop, and she is the sister of the victim. There was so much going on in this one, that gave a really good viewpoint of things we don’t hear about a lot that happened during the war. I will definitely read this author again.

A great mystery with twists and turns. It takes place during WWII, which I would think would have a hard time solving murders. Well written.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An intriguing story with engaging characters. A really enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.

With much period detail given to this police procedural set during the Blitz, this is ideal for fans of historical fiction and hard-edged mysteries.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

This was a good mystery novel, perfect for PD James' fans! I enjoyed the plot as well as the characters very much. I found the setting particularly interesting: to run a murder investigation under the regular bombings by the Germans prove a challenge indeed! The writing was convincing, I got a vivid image of London and its inhabitants. A great novel!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.

A gripping WWII mystery set in London during the blitz that kept me up late pacing through the pages. Unputdownable!

I have always enjoyed Pam Lecky’s writing so was very excited to get a copy of this mystery set in London during the Blitz. A new-to-London inspector recovering from personal loss investigates a jewelry shop robbery and a death that turn out to be linked by way of criminal gangs taking advantage of the chaos of the German bombing. The victim’s sister gets caught up in all the ripple effects as well as serving as a distraction for the inspector. There were plenty of twists and turns in the mystery, great historical detail that’s smoothly woven in, and a touch of romance. I hope this turns out to be the first in a series as I would love to see more about the characters and how things progress as the war goes on. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. All views are entirely my own.

Read in 2 sittings, if sleep hadn't prevailed I would have devoured in one. The book cover caught my attention straight away and once I had read the book description I knew I had to read it.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am a big Historical Fiction reader. I liked the mystery and the twists and turns of this story. The budding romance between Penny and Jamie was nice also. I found the writing to be a little long winded. It could have been edited down a bit and I found the writing style to a bit slow for me! A bit wordy.. It lacked suspense in that respect. That might just be a style choice that I myself did not jive with. I would still recommend reading this book.