Having read and loved all Young’s ‘Stasi’ books, I was keen to read his new standalone novel, ‘Death in Blitz City’.
Though this tale is set in Hull in 1942, when the most heavily bombed city outside London was suffering badly under German bombs, for Detective Chief Inspector Ambrose Swift, one particular death demands his attention: a young woman who has been strangled – and her heart cut out of her chest. When her boyfriend – a black American GI – is discovered dead nearby with a different organ removed, the pressure is on to catch a sadistic killer before they strike again.
What’s it about?
Life in Hull during the blackout and blitz, while solving a series of sadistic murders without treading on American toes…
Swift, his deputy, Jim Weighton, and their WPAC Kathleen Carver, quickly realise that the likely culprits are locally-stationed American GIs but are obstructed in their investigation by the American military, the lack-of-interest displayed by their own boss, DCS Holdridge, the keen interest expressed by M15, plus the surprise intervention of a couple of local MPs. With so many dying every day, argue Swift’s opponents, how much should the police really care about the murder of a casual prostitute? Finding the killer, they insist, must not upset the Americans and potentially disrupt the war effort.
Refusing to back down, Swift, Weighton and Carver are soon fighting corruption as well as a brutal killer, but can they prevent an affront to British justice?
What’s it like?
Effectively pairing interesting historical details with a constantly evolving investigation, Young keeps the pace fast and the action interesting (although the final dramatic scene with one key character felt more in keeping with a horror movie franchise than a crime thriller and was too easily resolved) in a novel that concludes with a soothing sense of resolution.
This is a historic thriller with modern sensibilities. Swift will not tolerate sexism or racism and commits to finding the murderer of the dead woman with an old-fashioned gentility born of very modern attitudes. Initially I found this insistence on the detective’s righteousness a little implausible, given his social context, but it forms a necessary counterbalance to the racism rife amongst the Americans.
The chapters featuring just the American soldiers feel less convincing than the rest; abruptly introduced, briefly sketched and ultimately too brisk to really allow readers to care about the characters, despite the attempt at replicating local speech patterns.
Final thoughts
Although written as a standalone, there are clear threads established here that would allow for a new series, if sufficient demand was perceived by a publisher. I would certainly be happy to read more of Swift’s investigations, though I’m intrigued by an interview I spotted online which suggests that Young’s next book may be a psychological thriller…
In keeping with Young’s previous novels, there’s a strong focus on corruption and the devious machinations of political, military and other authority figures, which can barely be tolerated by the more morally black and white hero/ine.
This is a good introduction to Young’s style, but I recommend that newcomers start with his debut, ‘Stasi Child’, a chilling and atmospheric introduction to life in the DDR and still one of my favourite ever books.
‘Death in Blitz City’,
David Young,
2022, Zaffre, paperback
My reviews of previous Stasi books can be found here: ‘Stasi Child‘, ‘Stasi Wolf‘, ‘A Darker State‘ (subsequently renamed ‘Stasi State’), ‘Stasi 77′ , ‘Stasi Winter‘ and ‘The Stasi Game‘.
