Black Out by John Lawton is a crime novel set in London during 1944. It starts with part of a body found in a bomb crater by a group of children and then the investigation progresses to a search for foreign nationals in the capital and the possibility of spies. The main character, Inspector Troy, is from a family which originate in Russia and thus he has contacts in the émigré community but it is possible, in fact it is certain, that not everyone is who they say that they are.
This is quite a gritty crime novel with betrayal and secrecy at its heart. Troy finds himself attacked more than once and he definitely puts his trust in the wrong place. A number of characters disappear completely and others turn up dead. With the military authorities trying to hide some of their activities and the Americans also involved Troy can’t afford to make too many mistakes or maybe he will also vanish without trace.
I very much enjoyed this crime novel which almost reads like a thriller. It reminded me a lot of Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series (although, of course Gunther is German) you can read my review of books in that series here and here. I thought that the writing was adult and intelligent and the book felt realistic for its time. The plot was very convoluted but I managed to keep track of what was going on although I couldn’t have anticipated the outcome from the start of the story.
What I didn’t enjoy quite so much was the fact that Troy casually hops into bed with the only two female characters almost as an afterthought or maybe something which both characters expected would happen as a matter of course. It seemed a little far-fetched to me and plotwise it turned out not to have been a good idea for Troy either.
If you like crime novels set during the war I also recommend Jim Kelly’s books set in wartime Cambridge (see here for review) which I like a lot or Mike Hollow’s Blitz Detective series which are lighter but still enjoyable (see here).
Anne Is Reading 