An Empty Death
Summer, 1944. After almost five years of conflict, London’s exhausted inhabitants live in a world of dereliction and fear. War-weary Detective Inspector Ted Stratton investigates the case of a murdered doctor, found on the rumble-strewn site of a bombed out building, across from Middlesex Hospital. Stratton follows multiple twists in the case, as the murderer has adopted and discarded multiple identities, and that person is on a killing spree at the hospital.
As Stratton becomes involved in the case, his life, and that of his pregnant wife Jenny, is put in danger. Meanwhile, the prime suspect assumes the identity of James Dacre, abandoning his post in the autopsy lab to become a full-fledged doctor on staff. Since it is wartime, no one checks his bona fides, and he soon becomes well-liked – even loved – by the staff and a particular nurse named Fay after whom he lusts. When Dr. Byrne, a pathologist from the autopsy lab, notices something amiss and recognizes Dacre, Byrne comes to a violent end, leaving many clues for Stratton to unravel.
Ted Stratton is a thoroughly likeable hero. The antagonist/murderer Dacre gains a certain sympathy from the audience as Stratton uncovers the layers of lies surrounding his past and his various identities. This novel is hard to put down – Wilson weaves her multi-layered plot with skill and expertise. Her depiction of shattered London during this time period proves most convincing.
