A police procedural set in London during the Little Blitz of early 1944 when V rockets rained down.
The murder of one and then two resident aliens, with a third suspected, is well out of the ordinary. Our hero becomes obsessed by it to the neglect of other duties but his superior, though vexed, is indulgent, and even supportive.
There is a large and intrusive US military establishment in London and it somehow seems involved In the mysterious deaths, so Plod noses around there, too.
There is much to’ing and fro’ing down mean nocturnal blacked out streets, many low lifes taking advantages of the circumstances, some patriots, and a lot of stoics hanging on.
I never did understand what the villain was doing and there is no wrap up at the end. What motivated him in targeting those three men remains unknown to this reader. Still less could I tell if his motivation was offical business, entrepreneurship, or just sadism.
Likewise I could not fathom his living doll who dutifully seduces Plod and then tries to kill him.
The author has more success with some of the supporting players like the wooden top who deals with the first murder, and the US army sergeant, though she is shallow, at least she has some vitality but her backstory was superfluous and she would not have worn battle dress in an office. I also like the brief role of an army guard who holds up Plod while Ike gets into a car.
That Plod is too dumb to realise the two women he has his way with are using him, is nicely done but in the end I am not sure that was intentional on the part of the author.
Plod’s own backstory which is parcelled out throughout the story is tedious and irrelevant, though it could have connected to that of the sergeant with some thought. Missed opportunity there.
The coda in Berlin was just too long a stretch. This reader was through long before that but kept reading hoping for enlightenment about the plot but none came.
John Lawton
I liked the setting and set up enough to read another.
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