I’ve just finished reading Elizabeth Wilson’s She Died Young (TP, $20.50). Set in 1956 much of the plot revolves around Hungarian student refugees who were based in Oxford. Some of them were attending classes at Oxford while others were waiting to go on to universities in other countries, including Canada. Elizabeth Wilson has written other standalone novels but this one seems to be set up as the first in a series. The two main characters are policeman DCI Jack McGovern and journalist Gerry Blackstone. I really enjoyed this book.

Reading She Died Young, reminded me of a book that I read back in January, Sara Sheridan’s Brighton Belle (TP, $16.95). That novel was set in Brighton in 1951, the main character Mirabelle Bevan, had formerly been a member of the British secret service. The second title in the series, London Calling, is being published in January (TP, $17.95). This time Mirabelle and her friend Vesta investigate the disappearance of debutante Rose Bellamy Gore, from a seedy Soho night club.

Both these books presented a very realistic description of postwar England and seem well rooted in the period with references various political and news events.

Minette Walters has set her first novel in ten years in quite a different period. The plot of The Last Hours, revolves around the arrival of the Black Death in the Dorset village of Melcombe in 1348. This is quite a departure from the author of The Scold’s Bridle. It is being published in April of 2018 (TP, $24.99).