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In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson (view source)
Revision as of 13:35, 4 April 2022
, 13:35, 4 April 2022no edit summary
And Greet is as good as her word. When Helen gets back from work, all her belongings are outside. It's as well that Dr Strasser has offered her and Sandy the use of a flat. They're going to be in difficulties without furniture but Helen has a feeling that - for once - they're actually working together, which hasn't happened since Sandy returned from the German prisoner-of-war camp. There's really only one problem: there's the body of a young woman in the Anderson shelter in the garden.
I've got an admission to make: when I saw that there was a new book by Catriona McPherson, my first thought was ''Dandy Gilver!'' I'm always keen to read the latest in the series as it's one which that never seems to lose its sparkle. It was only as I started reading that I realised that Dandy was absent but in her place , we had a rather splendid young woman by the name of Helen Crowther. Her feistiness has a coating of common sense and she has a wonderful enthusiasm about for helping people, about for making their lives better. Sandy is a troubled young man: his main contribution to the war effort was simply being in the prisoner-of-war camp and taking up German manpower and food by needing to be guarded and fed. Not everyone sees this as a valid contribution.
Then we have the doctors. Dr Deuchar is outwardly more friendly, and more understanding of Helen's background but it's Strasser who offer offers the practical help. The main problem though is the body. Exactly who is this young woman? Why is it that it's only Helen who seems worried about establishing her identity - and proving that she was murdered?
It's a wonderful snapshot of the time and the place. It's Edinburgh in that uneasy post-war period. The was might be over but the battles to be fought are just less obvious. Back-street abortion is the only solution even for a married woman and poverty is endemic if not openly acknowledged in a city with wears its rigid social distinctions with pride. I learned a great deal without ever feeling that I'd been educated. It's a splendid story and one which I finished all too quickly. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.