White Feather Killer, The

This is the fifth in the Silas Quinn series, following on from: Summon Up the Blood, The Mannequin House, The Dark Palace and The Red Hand of Fury. To be honest, I don’t feel that this series has managed to be as successful as it should be – if you like interesting, character driven, historical mysteries, then this is a series you should investigate.

It is summer, 1914, and DCI Silas Quinn has returned to Scotland Yard, following his last investigation, that led, indirectly, to the closure of the Special Crimes Unit; which Quinn used to run, along with faithful Sergeants, Inchball and Macadam. Used to his own department, and to his independence, Quinn finds himself desk bound at CID. To add insult to injury, he has also had to leave his comfortable lodgings, and is uncomfortably housed at a disreputable hotel.

Men are rushing to join up and those who are not immediately rallying to join the troops, find themselves in danger of receiving the white feather of cowardice. When a young girl is murdered, after giving a man a white feather, even the police are keen for the murderer to be German. The desire to blame the enemy is embraced by almost everybody. Quinn, however, feels that the answer to the crime has darker, closer reasons.

This is an interesting addition to the series and I hope we won’t wait too long for the next book. I am very fond of Quinn, and the cast of characters who surround him. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This is my first foray into reading R. N. Morris but I can assure you it won’t be my last. Although this is the fifth in the Silas Quinn Mystery series, it works beautifully as a stand alone book. In this book, Quinn finds himself in a somewhat awkward situation as the Special Crimes unit, which he headed up, has been closed down. This leaves him with no team and at the beck and call of a rather unpleasant colleague. This being World War 1, all those not joining up are handed white feathers, the universal sign for cowardice. When a young woman is murdered, with a white feather found in her mouth, the police are quick to arrest someone. However, Quinn feels the white feather is significant and continues the investigation.

Morris is an outstanding writer and this character driven narrative is superb. Quinn is a well rounded character with a burning desire to see justice done, often to his own detriment. The plot is gripping. Just when you think everything is worked out another corner is turned and off it goes again. I truly loved this book and I am off to buy another in the series. If you like authentic, character driven, historical suspense, I would say this book is a must buy.

This review has also been posted on Goodreads, Amazon UK and my personal blog.