Her latest
book Death at Greenway will be released 12 October 2021 by William
Morrow. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, and I know why: it’s
a wonderful book. The publisher’s blurb is not accurate, however, and the story
may not find its proper audience easily. Perhaps it could be called a thriller,
suspense, definitely; a mystery, not at all. There are murders and thefts and
missing people; they add to the apprehension and heighten the anxiety of the
people involved, but the resolutions of these crimes, which is integral to a
mystery, are not the focus of the story.
The book
opens in 1941 when England stood alone in the war against Hitler. Mrs. Malcolm
Arbuthnot arranged with Mrs. Max Mallowan AKA Agatha Christie to rent her
country home Greenway to house evacuee children from London. (Why anyone
thought a home on the English Channel was safer than London is a mystery in
itself.) Mrs. Arbuthnot’s request for a nurse to care for the children crosses
the desk of the matron at St. Pancras around the time that trainee Bridget
Kelly made a serious mistake. After a blistering tirade, the matron sends her
off to the country with the tentative promise to take her back if she performs
well. A second nurse meets them at the train station. She says her name is also
Bridget Kelly, so they each take nicknames, Bridey and Gigi.
Gigi’s lack
of childcare experience becomes obvious quickly, leaving 10 children under the
age of five to Bridey. The Mallowan servants resent the enormous amount of work
created by four more adults and ten children in the house, and the tension
between them and the evacuees becomes palpable. A month into their stay, a man with
bruises on his throat is found in the river. No one recognizes him. The homicide
investigation, such as it is, fades into the background of the story, which
focuses on Bridey and the people around her as they struggle to survive in a
world shifting under their feet.
While not a
plot-driven mystery similar to Christie’s, the book does pick up one of Christie’s
favorite themes: identity. People were often not who they said they were in Christie’s
stories and the same is true here. Bridey told Mrs. Arbuthnot that she is a
nurse and is terrified that her lack of credentials will be discovered. Mrs.
Arbuthnot was born poor and is trying to solidify her tenuous place in society,
while her husband Malcolm can’t seem to decide which Arbuthnots are his family,
suggesting that perhaps none of them are. Gigi changes names at the slightest
pretext. She persuades Bridey to slip out of the house at night to visit a
nearby pub where they tell everyone they are Lorraine and Fiona. And on and on.
Even in the last pages name and identity are at issue in a scene that recalls
an incident early in the book.
The multiple
points of view were somewhat disruptive but I could see that they were used to
convey information Bridey couldn’t have known. I liked most the comprehensive immersion
into wartime life. The story powerfully conveys the worry and fear of ordinary
people, those who sent their sons and daughters off to war while they worked
hard and did without at home. It is compelling and often moving. I am
interested to learn what UK readers think.
The ending, which reminds me of Mariah Frederick’s most recent mystery, is not what I wanted for Bridey but it’s realistic and understandable. Highly recommended.
·
Publisher: William Morrow
(October 12, 2021)
·
Language: English
·
Hardcover: 448 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0062938037
· ISBN-13: 978-0062938039
Aubrey Nye
Hamilton ©2021
Aubrey
Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and
reads mysteries at night.
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