Death in a blackout

Wilhelmina Harkness has always lived in the quaint English village of Barton St. Giles, where her father is the church rector. But WWII changes everything. Wilhelmina's father is captured in France, and her brother is missing in action. Wilhelmina wants to do her part, but her mother forbids it. Determined to change her life, the young woman accepts an invitation from her hitherto-unknown cousin Lydia to visit Lydia's home in Kingston upon Hull. Lydia's warm welcome and luxurious lifestyle amaze Wilhelmina, and city life quickly begins to agree with her. Shortening her name to Billie, she meets a young policeman, finds a dead body, experiences the terror of her first air raid, and is invited to become one of the first women to join the Hull police force. From a meek "country mouse," Billie, who's always been smart, resilient, persistent, and curious, quickly becomes a modern woman with a bright future. Despite the wartime setting and its attendant tragedies, this is a lovely feel-good read featuring a plucky heroine, a meaty mystery, and a satisfying conclusion.

In 1940, Billie Harkness, the protagonist of this so-so series launch set in England from Ellicott (the Beryl and Edwina mysteries), tries to join the war effort after her clergyman father becomes a German POW, but her controlling mother, Martha, who wants her to adhere to traditional domestic roles, prevents her from doing so. Martha's subsequent death in a hit-and-run accident prompts Billie to leave her small village of Barton St. Giles for the city of Hull, where she's been invited to live by a cousin she's never met. The move comes with a radical life change as well. After Billie comes across a dead woman in a café who was ostensibly killed in an air raid, her attempts to identify the body lead her to accept an offer to join Hull's new women's police constabulary unit. That position enables her to pursue her suspicions of foul play. The whodunit doesn't compel, and while Billie engenders sympathy, she doesn't leave much of an impression. The concept--probing a homicide amid the chaos of WWII--has been done plenty of times before and better. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May)

A young woman from the country finds adventure in World War II--era England. At first things look bleak for Wilhelmina "Billie" Harkness of Barton St Giles in rural Wiltshire. Her father, a rector, is a prisoner of war, and her brother's missing in action. Her mother, after tearing up Billie's enlistment papers, is run down by a car and killed, leaving Billie alone in the vicarage with her father's rector, Ronald Kershaw. Afraid of the scandal his living under the same roof as an unmarried woman threatens, he gives Billie an ultimatum: marry him or leave her home. Fortunately, a letter from a cousin she's never met rescues her. Lydia Harkness, who has pots of money, invites her for an indefinite stay in her gracious home in Hull. A port city, Hull is bigger and busier than sleepy Barton St Giles. It's also a target of German aircraft, as a raid during Billie's first night proves. Lydia arranges a job for her cousin in the library, but Billie's made for more challenging stuff. Before she even starts her new post, she's recruited as one of Hull's two female constables, an innovation brought on by the need to send every able-bodied man to the front. After the bang-bang pace of the events that bring Billie out of the vicarage under the watchful eye of her mum to semi-independence in her cousin's house, readers can expect the very different treat of watching her negotiate for respect in her newly created post. Tackling everything from the theft of Father O'Connell's bicycle to the death of a young woman the night of the air raid, Billie proves herself more than up to the task. Brisk and colorful. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.