Set in 1940, The Lover is based on a little-known true account of the “Blackout Ripper”. Due to the fact that the crimes he committed took place at the same time as the Blitz, he received very little media attention.
Five prostitutes have been found brutally murdered in as many weeks in Soho’s dark and dingy passageways while the Germans are bombarding London. But who would be committing such atrocious crimes on some of the most vulnerable victims of society?
Told from three different points of view, that of a young respectable office worker, a prostitute and a fighter pilot who begins to acquire a taste for murder, the story unfolds in a flashback that takes place in an air-raid shelter where the reader follows the three main protagonists and we see the effects this has on them.
Laura Wilson has used a compelling piece of social commentary to reconstruct
a look at the way in which the war affects the lives of everyone it touches.
Dark, moody and thoroughly compelling with an ending that is not only grim but
horrific, The Lover is an exciting read and a must for anyone who has
enjoyed Laura Wilson’s earlier novels. It is not surprising that it was shortlisted
for this year’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award
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Ayo Onatade