Sure and Certain Death

This cosy mystery has an original plot and characters. In London, during the Blitz of 1941, Francis Hancock, an undertaker of Indian origins - therefore considered an outsider even though he's a Londoner - is tasked with burying victims that have been mutilated and found in bombed ruins. It is believed that they were all White Feather Girls during WWI. Hancock suffers what was called "shell shock" that has affected him ever since that war so the idea of being given a white feather indicating cowardice is especially offensive. But when he discovers his sister was one of them, he is anxious to prevent her from becoming another casualty.

I've always liked mysteries with something unique and the protagonist Francis Hancock, Indian show more undertaker, satisfies that penchant. While the murder method is somewhat gruesome, the story is not funereal and the London patois and humour keeps things light. The mid-century funeral customs were interesting too. Nadel has done a top-notch job of describing wartime conditions. This is a re-read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. I'm looking forward to re-visiting the rest of the series. show less

In this tale of the East End of London, our main protaganist & amateur detective is Frank Hancock, an undertaker of Anglo-Indian parentage. Frank fought in WW1 and has suffered shell shock ever since. In that sense he is both a Londoner and an outsider, by profession & birth, and that makes him an interesting character to have at the core of the book. In this, the 4th book in the series, Frank discovers the body of a woman who has been apparently, skinned. He wonders if he is seeing things, only his employee can also see it. So begins a trail of death and murder that brings the murders of Jack the Ripper to mind in the local population. Slowly the death toll mounts, with the victims being women of a certain age. Slowly Frank begins to show more put the pieces together, especially when he discovers that his sister, Nancy, was at school with two of the women and then finds a much closer connection - they weer all white feather girls in WW1. Frank, as a victim of the war is appalled and this threatens to damage the family unit. However, they pull together and Frank slowly begins to work his way through the loose ends. There is a lot of local speech that still rings true. I lived in Plaistow for a number of years and it felt true to life, albeit it much altered from my time there in the late 1990s.
While this is the 4th in the series, I had not read the earlier books and don;t feel that I was left out of my depth. I will look out others in the series, Frank is worth spending time with. My only slight reservation is that some of the attitudes felt rather modern, but then the East End has always been the gateway to the rest of the capital, so it has always had a greater population of incomers from the rest of the world. show less

The setting is WW2 London during the Blitz. Arthur Hancock is an undertaker, traumatised by WW1, in love with a local prostitute, and struggling with staff issues. A killer is brutally murdering 50ish women in the neighbourhood – and the police are not really interested because there is so much else going on during the bombing raids. The trail leads right to the Hancock door, where Arthur finds that his sister Nancy is the connection between all the victims. Arthur has a bit of a track record as an amateur puzzle solver and he ends up tracking down the killer leads to uncovering the secret that Nancy and the others have kept to themselves for thrity years.
This was an OK read – but I couldn’t really relate to any of the characters. show more Certainly, it was not as engaging as other works I’ve read by Nadel. show less

One of the best books i've read recently, not just a great thriller but also a novel that gives you insight in life in second worldwar London and war casualties as well as minorities. Very well written.