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The Great Darkness

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The Great Darkness

By: Jim Kelly
Narrated by: Peter Wickham
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Cambridge, 1939. The opening weeks of the Second World War, and the first blackout - The Great Darkness - covers southern England, enveloping the city.

Detective Inspector Eden Brooke, a wounded hero of the Great War, takes his nightly dip in the cool waters of the Cam. Daylight reveals a corpse on the riverside, the body torn apart by some unspeakable force. Brooke investigates, calling on the expertise and inspiration of a faithful group of fellow 'nighthawks' across the city, all condemned, like the detective, to a life lived away from the light. Within hours The Great Darkness has claimed a second victim.

War, it seems, has many victims, but what links these crimes of the night?

©2018 Jim Kelly (P)2018 Isis Publishing Ltd Crime Fiction Historical Mystery War Fiction Crime Detective Suspense
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Struggled to finish and found characterslacking indepth emotionally I did enjoy the many references to areas of Cambridge.

too much dressing up of personal descriptions .

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I knew about the despicable testing on animals of anthrax and its long term effects on the island but hearing about it again in this novel depressed me once more. This story is good and personally I was delighted by the death by anthrax of one of the reprehensible characters. More would have been satisfying. There was rather a lot going on in this story but it was wrapped up satisfyingly by the end.
There were surprising errors of pronunciation but they didn’t really detract from the overall experience.

Good but depressing

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Atmospheric WW2 setting, interesting characters, complex and satisfying plot. Highly recommended - I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Excellent

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The recording wasn't great, the first part of sentences at the beginning of a new chapter were cut off or too quiet

Good story, loved the phoney war historical setting, intriguing plot.

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Well informed about the era without it reading like a history lesson. Many twists and turns with a unforseen ending.

very good

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