Dear Little Corpses – The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month (Paperback)

Our summary description

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September 1939. As war settles over Britain, London’s children are sent away in their thousands, scattered across villages promised as places of safety. In one such village, a young evacuee disappears, and the illusion of refuge quickly begins to fracture.

Crime writer Josephine Tey arrives as both outsider and observer, drawn in to assist her friend DCI Penrose. What should be a straightforward search becomes something colder. Familiar lanes feel altered. Neighbours turn cautious. Kindness is rationed, suspicion freely given.

As the investigation presses on, the pressures of wartime life seep into every exchange. Fear sharpens old resentments, and the village closes ranks in ways that make the truth harder to reach. Dear Little Corpses is an atmospheric historical mystery that finds menace in politeness and danger in silence, asking how well we ever know the places we trust to keep our children safe.