The Blurb
1942. Hull, East Yorkshire - It is the most heavily-bombed city outside of London - but for the sake of national morale the Hull Blitz is kept top secret. Only the politicians in Whitehall and Hull's citizens themselves know of the true chaos.
Newly-posted Inspector Ambrose Swift cannot believe the devastation he finds. But for Swift and his two deputies - part-time bare-knuckle boxer Jim 'Little' Weighton and Dales farmer's daughter Kathleen Carver - it's murder, not the war, that's at the forefront of their minds.
When a series of sadistic killings is wrongly blamed on locally-stationed black American GIs, Swift, a one-armed former WW1 cavalryman who tours the rubble-strewn city on a white horse, soon discovers these are no ordinary murders. The fetid stench of racism, corruption and perversion go to the very top. And for Swift, Weighton and Carver, finding the real killers means putting their own lives at risk - because powerful forces in the US and Britain cannot let the war effort be undermined. Not even by the truth.
Death in Blitz City is out today from Zaffre.
My Review
I hadn't read any of David Young's previous books and don't tend to read very much historical stuff, but I read the blurb and was sold! I mean, come on, how can you not be? And...I loved it! Didn't know what to expect but found so much to enjoy between the covers.
Hull was very badly damaged by a short campaign of bombings in 1941 and, a year on, the bombs are still dropping. But amidst the rubble, bodies are found with injuries suggesting that it wasn't the blasts that killed these folk. Ambrose Swift and his (very) small team are assigned to investigate the killings, and they discover far, far more than they bargained for, putting their jobs, and maybe their lives, on the line to get to the truth.
Ambrose Swift has come to Hull from London, where he made some waves - we learn more about that as the book progresses. He has no family, just a horse called Blanche, and he uses a prosthetic arm following an injury in the First World War. His sergeant is a huge bear of a man, seemingly very calm and mild mannered when he isn't following the family tradition of bare-knuckle boxing. A family man, he has a broad Hull accent unlike Swift with his posh accent - they make for an intriguing, and unusual pairing. The third member of the team is Women's Auxiliary Police Corps officer Kathleen Carver. Prior to the war, there were only a small handful of Women Police Constables in existence but the outbreak of the war saw the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps. Officers had no police powers but undertook clerical duties and the like. However, intelligent and intuitive, Carver proves herself capable of much more than that, and is a welcome addition to the team.
One of the great things about this book was how much I learned. Of course, I realise it's a work of fiction, but I know from the author notes that it is very much rooted in reality. I had no idea how badly damaged Hull was in the Second World War and can't begin to imagine how that affected the people living there. And, of course, attitudes to so many things were different 80 years ago. The treatment of women for example. So many men felt them inferior, unable to take responsibility, unable to work effectively. Swift's boss, Superintendent Holdridge , summed up that thinking perfectly: 'We only have a handful of female officers in the whole force, and none here in CID, thank God.' And the attitude towards, and treatment of, black people, specifically (in this case), black GIs serving in Hull with the US army. I have to wonder how much things have progressed since then. Of course, these ideas were not held by everyone and our team of Swift Weighton and Carver are pretty progressive in their thinking. And I loved reading all the other details - blackouts, the dances, 'walking out', the huge amount of tea, suits and fedora hats for plain clothed policemen and police boxes for communication.
The story is horrible, sad and made me angry because, whilst extreme, it has parallels today. It exposes hatred, racism and abuse, together with coercion and corruption. Archie and Theo are heartbreaking - two young American men trying to make better lives for themselves only for their skin colour to hold them back. Sarah and Jessica, too, victims of their circumstances, and their hard lives. Things weren't easy then, and that was without the constant threat of bombings and death.
Given that police work moved slower then, purely because it took so much longer to get things done - no mobiles, no computers, no internet - this is a surprisingly fast moving book. There might not be action on every page, but there is plenty going on and it never once lags.
Death in Blitz City is a fascinating and atmospheric period police procedural with a fabulous trio of protagonists - I really hope we get to see them again. As hinted at above, the subject matter is challenging, important and heartbreaking. And terrifying. The murders are violent (we see more of the aftermath than the crimes themselves) and might not be for everyone. The same with racism - the details are brutal. The story is detailed, well written, clearly well researched, and devastating. It tells of war, hate, rage, abuse, racism and corruption at the highest level. But it also talks of determination, teamwork, integrity, love, hope and unity. As I said in my opening, much to be enjoyed. Loved it.
The Author
East Yorkshire-born David Young began his East German-set crime series on a creative writing MA at London's City University when Stasi Child - his debut - won the course prize. The novel went on to win the 2016 CWA Historical Dagger, and both it and the 2017 follow-up, Stasi Wolf, were longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. His novels have been sold in eleven territories round the world. Before becoming a full-time author, David was a senior journalist with the BBC's international radio and TV newsrooms for more than 25 years. He writes in his Twickenham garden shed and in a caravan on the Isle of Wight. The Stasi Game, his sixth novel, is available to pre-order now. You can follow him on Twitter @djy_writer
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