Tom Tyler Book 2
Maureen Jennings
McClelland & Stewart
An imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
ISBN 9780771043130
eISBN 9780771043147
ASIN B0082XLR4K
This was my eighth Maureen Jennings story in as many week, and also the second in the Tom Tyler series that I have read. I am enjoying read books from all the series by Jennings, but to be honest this one is not quite as much as the other three series. I do enjoy Tom Tyler as a character, and England during World War II is an interesting setting. But there is just something that is not quite there for me.
This story is set several months after the events of Season of Darkness, it is November, 1940 and Tom Tyler a Detective Inspector in the small Shropshire town of Whitchurch, is called up to the nearby city of Birmingham to investigate an explosion at a munitions factory. But in this story there is much more to each character and the events then first appears on the surface. And what initially looked like an accident might well be sabotage by either fifth columnists or socialist. In this story we have a family trying to protect a young man who is AWOL. We have a nurse doing he best to help in all kinds of situations. An American filmmaker who is genial, and charming to all he meets. And there is risk and danger everywhere you look. From bombs overhead, from a young ruffian who fancies himself a veritable street thug. And in the middle of it all Tom pine for his lost love and enjoying the time away from his wife. But Tom also piecing together are the clues and details to figure out what really happened, and if possible, to prevent worse from happening.
The story is well paced. The crossover characters from the first novel add some interesting bits to the story. We can’t help but root for Tom, but I must say I expect a little more from him. The setting of the bomb factory, when women were moving in large numbers into the workforce because the men were away fighting is an intriguing element. And the questions around a labour union, and why women were paid less for the same jobs as men raises some good points. I was surprised by how quickly the story turned and ended up being wrapped up. And a suicide took me completely by surprise.
Overall a good story by a writer I greatly appreciate. I do look forward to the other books in this series, and to be honest anything I have yet to read by Jennings. This is a historical fiction mystery that you can really wrap your mind around.
Books by Maureen Jennings:
Detective Murdoch Series:
0.5 Shipwreck
1.0 Except the Dying
2.0 Under the Dragon's Tail
3.0 Poor Tom Is Cold
4.0 Let Loose the Dogs
5.0 Night's Child
6.0 Vices of My Blood
7.0 A Journeyman to Grief
8.0 Let Darkness Bury the Dead
...
Detective Inspector Tom Tyler Series:
1.0 Season of Darkness
2.0 Beware This Boy
3.0 No Known Grave
4.0 Dead Ground in Between
...
Christine Morris Series:
1.0 Does Your Mother Know?
2.0 The K Handshape
...
Paradise Café Series:
1.0 Heat Wave
2.0 November Rain
3.0 Cold Snap
4.0 March Roars
...
Other books:
The Map of Your Mind: Journeys into Creative Expression
Investigating Murdoch Mysteries: The Official Companion to the Series – with Michelle Ricci and Mir Bahmanyar
...
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