Former police detective James Givens and his wife Rachel are back in Birmingham, England, after what they thought was to be a life-changing move to Brittany. It was that, but Givens almost lost his life while helping solve a mystery and then Germany invaded Poland, precipitating World War II.
It’s now the summer of 1940. Givens is working in his father’s clothing business, but the tension between them is almost unbearable. His father resents Givens having changed his Jewish name to an English one, and the two have never gotten along since Givens was a teenager.
He takes a few days off to visit his former police superintendent, who’s now retired and living a short 30-minute train ride away. Something seems off, but the man insists all is well. His wife is more forthcoming; someone has been committing acts of vandalism against their house and garden. Then the man disappears, and his wife calls givens and asks him to search for her husband. With military recruiting, the police are seriously understaffed. Because of a leg injury from his police days, Givens can’t enlist.
Charlie Garratt
Over his wife Rachel’s objections, he undertakes a search – and finds the missing man’s body. And his determination to do right by his former boss threatens his marriage and what little of a relationship is left with his father.
A Malignant Death by Charlie Garratt is the fifth mystery novel in the Inspector Givens series. It combines a traditional mystery and a traditional police procedural with the overlay of war, which is now getting closer and closer to home. The reader knows what the characters don’t, that the bombing will be starting, and Birmingham will not be spared. It adds a tautness and tension to what is already a thoroughly enjoyable mystery.
Garratt is the author of four Inspector Given mysteries, including A Shadowed Livery, A Pretty Folly, A Patient Man, and Where Every Man. He also published several community participation guides, until he retired and began writing short stories. One of those stories led to his first novel, A Shadowed Livery. Garratt has also published the novel A Handkerchief for Maria. He lives in Shropshire in England.
Related:
Where Every Man by Charlie Garratt.
A Shadowed Livery by Charlie Garratt.
A Pretty Folly by Charlie Garratt.
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