Fifth Column

Book 2, in the Blitz Detective mysteries

This series is set in 1940 during the London Blitz in the Essex County Borough of West Ham, one of the main targets of Hitler’s bombers and it is where Detective Inspector John Jago operates. When there is suspicion of murder, Jago’s job is to investigate and bring the killer to justice, even if it is in the middle of an attack.

The first novel “Direct Hit” opened when the Blitz began and the second continues this captivating drama. “Fifth Column” opens after an air attack just ended and a search party had discovered the body of a young woman found dead on a bomb site but after a short investigation, it was questioned whether a bomb had really killed her or had she felt under a more sinister encounter. The hunt to uncover the truth had just begun……

This is another page turner, beautifully written to grab our attention from the start. Mr. Hollow perfectly blends some historical events into his police procedural and has provided a wonderful protagonist in Inspector Jago who must battle incompetence, indifference and deception to get to the truth. On top of that, Dorothy Appleton, the attractive American war correspondent (recurring character from book 1) threatens to distract him from his duty…and she does a good job of that. We have all good sorts of criminal activity and it is fascinating to follow Jago while he is tackling the case in middle of the blackouts with searchlights illuminating the skies, sirens wailing endlessly and dodging bombs looking for shelter or hunting down a suspect. Reading this story I couldn’t help but to imagine the typical 1940’s English chap wearing a bowler hat with an umbrella on hand and speaking with an impeccable British accent. Indeed this story is very visual, the descriptions, twits even the pacing leave an impression. The narration and dialogue are nostalgic and reflect beautifully the time and the circumstance. The author has obviously done his research with a great attention to details and has brought to life both his characters and the environment.

I received this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This is the Way I see it.

Thanks Mike Hollow and Lion Hudson Plc for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The neat row of small, late-Victorian terraced houses was punctuated by a gaping space: homes reduced to rubble in the night raid. Amongst the debris the body of a young, red-headed woman is found. But she has no connection to the houses or the street, nor can her identity be established. Nor was it the bomb that killed her. When the post-mortem reveals death by strangling, D.I. Jago is called on to investigate. He quickly establishes that the body is that of Mary Watkins, a seemingly respectable employee of a local engineering company. But the company is missing important chemicals, and few seem to really care about the death of Mary - not even her family. Was the young woman all she appeared to be? As Jago digs deeper he starts to uncover a trail of deception, betrayal, and romantic entanglements

Fantastic - will definitely be going back to re-read the first one!