Murder While You Work

Murder While You Work / Susan Scarlett 
London: Dean Street Press, 2022, c1944.
235 p.

Another Dean Street novel -- I seem to read these a lot in the summer! This is a Susan Scarlett novel; I am now almost finished with new novels by this author, I've been spacing them out so as not to finish too quickly. This one is unusual in her oeuvre, as it's a mystery set during wartime. It's her only mystery novel. 

Judy Rest is travelling to her new wartime job as a factory girl. On the train she meets a young man, Nick Parsons. With their loose lips, they discover that they are both engaged in war work at this factory, and develop an affinity. This turns out to be a great boon to Judy, as she finds herself in a very odd situation in her boarding house. She has a room in a house with an old lady, her daughter (quite cowed), and their daughter-in-law and her young son. Judy soon realizes that there are family tensions, and that the little boy is what we'd call "not all there". A fact that his mother vigorously denies. 

The man of the house, old Mr. Former, died the previous year, and the two older ladies are a bit afraid of something, Judy isn't sure what. There are some shocking turns in this story, not a lot of mystery (really only one viable suspect but the motive is unclear until the end), and a weak romance. 

However, the setting, with the wartime workplace and small village characters, makes this worth reading. This isn't light and frothy like her others, there is some psychological content with a storyline that goes a bit dark. Some characters here to love and some to absolutely loathe. I'm glad I read it, though, it was a great look at 40s England from another lens.