DEATH OF A COUNTESS is set in May, 1957, London. In the aftermath of WWII, a group of friends are gathering for a party. Displaced people, they survived the worst of Hitler's concentration camps, so this party is a chance for them to celebrate their liberty, as well as to reconnect with their pasts and their culture. The second in the Midnight Heroes series, featuring Detective Andrew Perry, this is an historical novel that can be read as a standalone.
The tagline of the novel spells it out "Post-war London should have been safe. It wasn't", and one of the attendees at the party is dead that night, leaving Perry, and his sidekick, James Cook (yes I know...), interrogating people who have experienced the worst, looking for any clues as to motive, let alone means.
The plot of this book and the setting in particular have good resonance, both in terms of the timeframe, the fallout after the war, and the society in which this group of displaced persons find themselves. The backwards reaching tendrils, and the actions and memories of the characters surrounding the dead Countess are believable and empathetic, in what's styled as a "plenty of clues dotted along the way for fans of the solve it" murder mystery. It's an engaging read, with what felt like real glimpses into the timeframe and the communities in which trust and hope were so starkly contrasted with a past that came from anything but.
Death of a Countess
It is May 1957. In London eight friends gather for a party. They are all displaced persons who have survived the worst World War II could throw at them. This gathering will be a time to share the fragile joy of liberty. But before the night is out, one of them will be dead. Who would commit such a crime? And why? Detective Andrew Perry, together with his naive sidekick, James Cook, is assigned the unenviable task of searching through the horrific memories of the survivors, looking for the beginning of the thread that will lead him to a solution.