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The Man on the Moor by John Van der Kiste (view source)
Revision as of 15:15, 10 August 2020
, 15:15, 10 August 2020no edit summary
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In the summer of 1913 relations with Germany were deteriorating steadily, but there didn't seem to be any connection with the international situation when a London clerk, George Stephens, was found dead in a country lane on the edge of Dartmoor. The moor had been his passion and he'd always been keen to escape London and return to Devon. It was an odd death but in all probability , it would have been put down as an accident if George's mother had not announced that George was the son of the Kaiser. Despite her fondness for gin , the story she told was oddly compelling and when it was linked up with the fact that two German officers had been staying at a nearby farm George's death seemed less and less like an accident.
I did enjoy this book. What began as a simple situation – a weary traveller sits down for a moment as he walks the final part of his journey and is found dead the following day – rapidly escalates into a mystery with tentacles which spread far and wide. An MP wonders how the fact that his wife is the sister of the dead man will affect his career. The wife of another MP has been seeking her pleasures in dangerous places and might well have bitten off more than she can chew. George's work colleagues might have known little about him when he was alive, but it doesn't stop them wanting the mystery of his death solved.
John Van der Kiste is an a historian and the background details are pitch-perfect. The story is written by someone who ''knows'' the period inside out rather than someone who has done the research and feels the need to use every known fact somewhere. There's a real sense of impending war, of a menace coming from the continent which few completely understand because of the family relationship between the King and the Kaiser. There's a real feeling for Devon and particularly Dartmoor with its brooding unpredictability and stark beauty.
I would love to have known a little more about the characters though. There's ''enough'' for me to recognise them and to follow the story but they were such interesting people that I really felt that they could have stood a little more flesh on their bones. It's a minor quibble though when the book kept me guessing right to the end.
I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
For more set in the same period we can recommend [[Remembrance Day by Leah Fleming]] and [[The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt]]. You might also enjoy [[Always There by John Van der Kiste]].
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