1944: Twenty years after WPC Lottie Armstrong was dismissed from the Leeds police force, she’s back, now a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Police Corps.

Detective Chief Superintendent McMillan is now head of CID, trying to keep order with a depleted force as many of the male officers have enlisted. This hasn’t stopped the criminals, however, and as the Second World War rages around them, can they stop a blackout killer with a taste for murder?

 

From On Yorkshire magazine:

“The author gives a very clear and convincing picture of Leeds during wartime, and although never having experienced the blitz on London and other cities to the same horrific extent, the deprivations of the time show clearly in the everyday lives of the characters…Nickson has a clever knack of never using superfluous words, and his deft brevity of style keeps the story flowing in a very readable way.”

From Fully Booked blog:

“Don’t anticipate a comfortable outcome, however. Nickson doesn’t do cosy, and the conclusion of this fine novel is as dark as a blacked out city street.”

From Northern Crime blog:

“Chris Nickson captures the tone and mood of the 1940s accurately. You can feel the underlying pessimism and the desire for it all to be over. I could easily imagine Lottie in her uniform, travelling across the city in a Super Snipe. That would be such a cool job to have, during the war. I was excited by the escalating tension, as Lottie and McMillan get closer and closer to the truth. Yes, crime in the 1940s isn’t pretty. It is brutal. Trust me, this is a book you need to get your hands on. Top crime alert!”

A lovely review from the Historical Novel Society:

“Author Chris Nickson knows Leeds so well he can create a thoroughly distinct and colourful story woven round this lively city, a city which in 1944 has large numbers of US troops stationed nearby.”