From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

A Bespoke Murder (Home Front Detective #1)

Edward Marston

Start date: November 1, 2018

Finish date: November 30, 2018

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: The winner of our WW1-themed poll to choose November's group read …more
[close] The winner of our WW1-themed poll to choose November's group read

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What Members Thought

Oct 25, 2018 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Edward Marston has written many successful series, including the Railway Detective Series and The Restoration Series. Having enjoyed many of his previous books, I was looking forward to the start of his new, Home Front Detective Series.

The novel begins with the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 and the survival of Irene Bayard, a stewardess, and Ernie Gill, a hairdresser on board ship. Irene, who feels grateful to Ernie for helping her, but also wary of his constant attentions, decides not to go Edward Marston has written many successful series, including the Railway Detective Series and The Restoration Series. Having enjoyed many of his previous books, I was looking forward to the start of his new, Home Front Detective Series.

The novel begins with the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 and the survival of Irene Bayard, a stewardess, and Ernie Gill, a hairdresser on board ship. Irene, who feels grateful to Ernie for helping her, but also wary of his constant attentions, decides not to go back to working on board ships and goes to her sister in London to begin a new life. Meanwhile, the attack on the Lusitania has unleashed a great deal of anti-German feeling and there are revenge attacks on German owned shops and business premises and also on family homes. Attacks begin in Liverpool, but spread to London. Amongst the victims of the violence are Jacob Stein and his daughter, Ruth. Jacob was a tailor, with a prestigious shop in Jermyn Street, when a mob loot and set fire to it. Later, it has been found that Jacob was killed and Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy are in charge of the murder investigation.

This is a really interesting novel. The characters of Marmion, his family and Keedy work well together. There are many plausible suspects and Irene's story is also well developed. Marmion is under pressure from Jacob's difficult brother, Herbert Stone, and there are many side stories, such as a trip abroad to arrest a suspect which brings WWI into the plot. Actually, the affect of the war is felt on all sides - Marmion's son is serving abroad, as well as Jacob Stein's son, and there are many mentions of London in wartime which gives you a great sense of time and place. There is also much about women’s role during wartime, with Marmion’s daughter thinking, greatly against her mother’s wishes, of leaving teaching to join the WEC (Women’s Emergency Core) and both Irene and Alice considering different ways forward, from the expected role of marriage and motherhood, and the independence that greater job prospects in the war offered many women. As well as the positive, there is also much about the way women are treated – from views on rape, to stalking and the general abuse, which passes as ‘good humoured banter,’ in a London pub… All in all, this is a very promising start to which looks to be a good new series.
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Nov 03, 2018 Sandy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: series-dropped, mystery-classic, mystery-detective-grp, rread-2018

Very good plot with many of the WWII topics interwoven. The sense of the time period is excellent. But, although I didn't guess the murder mystery, I anticipated most of the other endings. Perhaps it reflects real life, but, for me, there was no tension. And the author's style did not appeal to me. ...more

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Nov 02, 2018 Jill rated it liked it · review of another edition

A story that starts with the sinking of the Lusitania, and of two of the survivors, and then moves on to the retaliation of a number of the English against the neutralized Germans living in England. (Mainly Jews). It takes on a wide number of topics of the day, rape, homosexuality, the independence of women, along with stalking, conditions endured during the war in France, and finally it solves a murder. The policeman are two likable characters, and we get quite a lot of their family lives.
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