White Feather Killer
by R. N.
Morris
Sometimes you can pick up a book in the middle of
the series and not feel the need to go back and start at the beginning. However, when I began The White Feather Killer,
I did feel a little lost as to the circumstances of DI Silas Quinn’s current
status within the police department. He
returns to New Scotland Yard, after an undisclosed illness to the realization
that the Special Crimes Division has been closed. It is 1914 and war had been declared putting
everyone’s nerves on edge. Anyone with the
slightest ties to Germany is instantly suspect.
DI Quinn is now tied to a desk, tasked with ferreting out supposed spies
and enemies of Britain while his former team members have been dispersed
through out the department. Felix
Simpkins wants to escape his dominant, overbearing mother and join up. Unfortunately, he’s a coward. He attends a special service at the church of
Pastor Cardew hoping it will give him the courage to enlist. As he leaves the
church, he is approached by a young woman who hands him a dreaded white
feather. The sign of cowardice. A body is soon found with a white feather
placed within the mouth of the victim and a policeman is shot during the
investigation. DI Quinn is restless and hopes
that the investigation will not be botched by the current investigator who decides
the murderer is of German descent and is determined to find someone who fits
within his ideas. I have read many books
that take place within the same time period as The White Feather Killer. This is the first that has really brought
forth the underlying doubt and suspect that would have surfaced within Britain
against the German population. Not just
those that immigrated from Germany, but the descendants of those immigrants. He has dug down and showed many facets of prejudice
and corruption within services that were put in motion to protect citizens. As this was my first sojourn into the world
of Quinn, I found him to be very human. He doesn’t drink or depend on drugs, but he is
emotional and has self-doubts. He’s not
the hard boiled, gritty investigator of many novels. He is sure of his methods but when it comes
to the fairer sex, he is shy and clumsy.
In this volume, Morris doesn’t muddy up the story with descriptive
details of sex and dirty deeds. He does
give us a look at London at a time when the lives of its population were turned
upside down and weren’t sure what was going to come their way the next time the
sun rose.
I wish to thank the publisher
and NetGalley for their generosity in allowing me access to the Advanced Reader
Copy for my honest review.
PUB: Severn
House Publishing
PUB DATE:
August 1, 2019
ISBN:
9780727888853
Genre: Historical
Fiction, Mystery
