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