Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Great Darkness by Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly is uniquely qualified to write detective fiction: His father was a chief detective superintendent in the London Metropolitan Police Force and his grandfather was a justice of the peace and a special constable. These unassailable credentials give him nearly a century of first-hand experience and history to draw from. He initially wrote for a number of newspapers and then turned to fiction. His first book, The Water Clock, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award, and he has since won a CWA Dagger in the Library and the New Angle Prize for Literature.

His first series showcased a journalist in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England; the second is a police procedural set in Norfolk. His latest series is a historical set in Cambridge, England, during the first few months of World War II. Detective Inspector Eden Brooke is a nighthawk. Plagued with insomnia from injuries sustained during the first war, he often walks the streets of Cambridge, watching and listening to others who are abroad in the night. He is taking a forbidden swim in the River Cam when he hears a group of soldiers digging a pit. Why they are on maneuvers in the dark is a question he wants answered, since the countrywide blackout, the great darkness, is in effect. He asks questions the next day at work without receiving satisfactory answers.

His attention is soon diverted when a visiting American scientist, Dr. Ernst Lux, on assignment at the University, dies in what seems to be a bizarre accident involving the netting of a stray barrage balloon. Only Brooke notices that Lux’s shoes are on the wrong feet and becomes convinced the death is not an accident. This leads him to the clandestine group of young men known as night climbers, who indulged in a risk-laden practice of scaling chapels, towers, and other tall buildings. If discovered, they were sure to be expelled from the university, which appeared to only lend spice to their efforts. 

While Brooke searches for answers to the death of Dr. Lux, he continues to ask about the soldiers on night patrol and is sidelined by the daily reports of new crime in the city. The war has taken every able young man, and the police force is woefully understaffed. Brooke juggles a workload meant for multiple people, just like everyone else left at home does.

Atmospheric portrayal of historic Cambridge and the general anxiety over oncoming war wafts off the page. Brooke is an engaging character, not the usual loner cop but one with friends and a strong family connection. A promising start to a series set in an intriguing time and place. Recommended.

·         Hardcover: 352 pages

·         Publisher: Allison & Busby; British First edition (February 15, 2018)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0749021616

·         ISBN-13: 978-0749021610

Aubrey Hamilton ©2020

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.