“The Midnight Man” is the first in the Clapham Trilogy crime series, written by Julie Anderson and is set in 1946 post war London at the South London Hospital, ran by and for, women only. 

 

A prologue can make or break the start of a book and the opening paragraphs in this story, of a trapped woman fearing for her life, really set the intrigue and instantly gripped my attention and interest. 

 

When Faye, manager of the staff canteen encounters a woman sitting forlorn and lost, she befriends her and offers her a job cleaning tables. They soon strike up a friendship and Ellie becomes part of the hospital staff family.  When a nurse goes missing and is later found dead, Ellie believes she heard her cries for help and selfishly ignored them. Together, Ellie and Faye start investigating who the murderer could be and whether they could be involved with the hospital. Faye likes solving puzzles and discovering things and found herself unable to stop her undercover snooping. 

 

The introduction of the NHS hasn’t taken place yet, although it has passed through parliament and the story has a backdrop of what it’s like for patients pre NHS, having to find the funds to pay for treatment, be it illness, accident or life threatening disease. 

 

Women were still discriminated against, even though the hospital had some very prestigious female medical staff and hardworking employees and it was good to read that these women could quite easily hold their own and do the jobs of men. However, once men returned from war and expected their jobs back, the women were frowned upon for continuing their jobs and the language and latter day disparaging terms showed the men’s unhappiness. What was interesting was the recruitment drive of women into the Met Police after the war, something Faye would be perfect for. 

 

This crime story could quite easily be set in modern day times, showing that the crimes committed in the 1946 sadly haven’t changed and the author captured the nature of the crimes realistically and together with some extensive research of the era, social economics and politics, made this a very readable and enjoyable story and I can’t wait for book two and three! 

 

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