November, 1940. Tom Tyler, Detective Inspector of the small Shropshire
town of Whitchurch, is a troubled man. The preceding summer had been a
dark one for Britain, and even darker for Tom's own family and personal
life. So he jumps at the opportunity to help out in the nearby city of
Birmingham, where an explosion in a munitions factory has killed or
badly injured several of the young women who have taken on dangerous
work in support of the war effort.
At first, it seems more than likely the explosion was an accident, and
Tom has only been called in because the forces are stretched thin. But
as he talks to the employees of the factory, inner divisions - between
the owner and his employees, between unionists and workers who fear
communist infiltration - begin to appear. Put that together with an AWOL
young soldier who unwittingly puts all those he loves at risk and a
charming American documentary filmmaker who may be much more than he
seems, and you have a pause-register novel that bears all the hallmarks
of Maureen Jennings' extraordinary talent: a multi-faceted mystery,
vivid characters, snappy dialogue, and a pitch-perfect sense of the era
of the Blitz, when the English were pushed to their limits and responded
with a courage and resilience that still inspires.
