The Edinburgh Murders
Edinburgh 1948. Helen Crowther, a welfare officer for a small surgery under the nascent National Health Service, comes across the murdered body of a man in the local swimming baths whose corpse has been boiled. There’s another murder victim discovered the following day, also killed in a bizarre way, and more follow. Helen’s interest is piqued, and she sets about finding the link between the deaths and uncovering the perpetrators. Her family seems to know more about the mystery than they should, and the series of deaths and the weird circumstances of the murders present a puzzling mystery to Helen. She is married, but her husband has returned from incarceration in a POW camp in Germany convinced of his homosexual nature. He lives with his male partner in a shared property with Helen but with unconventional (certainly for 1948!) separate and independent living arrangements.
There is a wry humour to the novel, and Helen Crowther is a sparky and likeable character. The historical context is excellent, set in the working class, earthy and feisty part of Edinburgh. There is one obvious error when Helen referred to seeing Casey Jones ten years before the television series was made. There are some outrageous coincidences in the plot which stretch credibility, and the denouement does all seem a little implausible. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable and engaging read. The volume is the second in the series, but this can be comfortably read as a standalone novel.
