Summer 1948
London swelters amid post-war reconstruction, while continued rationing and the black-market fuel the rising crime wave. The empires of gangland bosses grow and thrive, protected by corruption and bribery.
During a party in Clapham a student nurse from the South London Hospital for Women and Children dies in a fall from a balcony. Is it an unfortunate accident as the local police believe? Or something more sinister?
The nurse’s friends ask a newly qualified female detective constable to investigate, a woman who is facing difficulties of her own. Before long all are drawn into the criminals’ deadly games, as gangsters jostle for territory and power. With the solution almost within grasp, their lives are threatened and one of them faces a dreadful fate.
Can the others find her before it’s too late?
And what is the truth about...
A Death in the Afternoon?
It's my pleasure to be sharing my review of A Death in the Afternoon today. Many thanks to Julie Anderson and Hobeck Books for my advance copy of the novel.
A Death in the Afternoon is the second book in Julie Anderson's The Clapham Trilogy and although the self-contained mystery here means it can be read as a standalone, I'd recommend reading The Midnight Man first to fully appreciate the overarching storyline.
The narrative is told again from the perspective of the two young women introduced in the first book – Faye and Eleanor – and it's interesting to see how their lives have changed since, especially Faye. She has now moved on from the South London Hospital for Women & Children which as readers of The Midnight Man will know is a big step, given this was the place where she felt she finally fitted in following a succession of jobs after leaving school at fifteen. Even more impressively, she has gone on to train as a WPC, although it's immediately obvious that she hasn't had it easy, particularly when she is informed that she has been requested to join a new unit in the Criminal Investigation Department. Faye is already under pressure to prove herself as a woman in the Metropolitan Police but her unexpected posting brings high expectations and bitter resentment from many of her colleagues. However, before Detective Constable Faye Smith even embarks on her new role, a tragedy linked to her previous job rocks her impromptu celebration with Eleanor.
The brief prologue sees the death of a young woman from a watching neighbour's viewpoint but it's a little later before her identity and what she meant to their friend, Beryl is revealed. She is convinced that despite the official line that this was a tragic, alcohol-fuelled accident, the truth is much darker and poor Violet Taylor died under suspicious circumstances. Faye reluctantly agrees to informally look into the case, which leads to her struggling to balance her determination to demonstrate her capabilities in her day job investigating organised crime while she grows increasingly convinced that Vi Taylor was murdered. Faye is a resourceful, intelligent young woman but not without her flaws and in her eagerness to impress others, her rashness results in her putting herself in unnecessary danger. There is always a tendency for some people to view the past with rose-tinted glasses but Julie Anderson does a fine job of reminding us that communities suffered from crime waves and issues with societal cohesion back then too and A Death in the Afternoon often smoulders with tension. Meanwhile, as Ellie embraces her new responsibilities at the hospital, she has emotional choices to make about her love life following the return of a familiar face. Her importance to Faye as a friend and confidante also can't be overstated, especially as their closeness also comes to the attention of others.
1948 was a time of enormous change and as always, Julie Anderson's melding of a puzzling mystery with her observant depiction of the social history and her rich sense of place is impressive. The misogynistic attitudes experienced by Faye are a stark record of the challenges women still faced to be taken seriously in the post-war workplace. Likewise, the ready dismissal of Vi Taylor as an unfortunate drunk not deserving of a proper investigation is a realistic reflection of how women who were perceived as not being up to standards were often treated. Further upheavals were being seen in the country and most notably in London following the arrival of the Empire Windrush. Julie Anderson sympathetically portrays the hostilities and racial discrimination faced by the new arrivals from the Caribbean, and while their reluctance to engage with the police frustrates Faye, she gradually understands where their lack of trust comes from. She also has to contend with a growing empire of gangland bosses who, as history tells us, were protected by institutionalised corruption – even at the highest levels.
With so much going on, this multi-layered, intricately plotted read flows effortlessly throughout. The rising sense of danger eventually culminates in a denouement which makes sense of the eye-catching cover, while the conclusion sets the scene perfectly for a suspense-filled dramatic third act in the final book in this excellent trilogy. A Death in the Afternoon is a first-rate read; this compelling historical mystery is full of excitement and insight. Highly recommended.
A Death in the Afternoon is published by Hobeck Books and can be purchased from their website, it can also be ordered from Waterstones, Foyles, Amazon or your favourite independent bookshop.
About the Author
Julie lives in south London where her latest crime fiction series is set, returning to her first love of writing historical fiction with The Clapham Trilogy. The first book The Midnight Man, was published by Hobeck in 2024 as was the second, A Death in the Afternoon (April 2025). The third, Festival Days, will be published in Spring 2026.
She writes crime fiction reviews for Time and Leisure Magazine and is a co-founder and Trustee of the Clapham Book Festival. She has recently been working with St Pauls Opera Company as an historical advisor on their production of L'Elisi d'Amore.
Comments
Post a Comment