BLOOD MOON OVER BRITAIN

Author: Morag McKendrick Pippin ISBN: 0843955821 12/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER/Leisure
Time Period: England 1942

London, 1942 With the clouds of war dark and cold hanging over her, Britain is fighting the Nazis nearly alone. German U-boats are sinking homeland-bound supply ships, the Desert Fox's panzers are winning in North Africa and the Luftwaffe is shooting the RAF out of the skies. But Britain has an ultra-secret weapon: The German Enigma Code has been broken, and agents at Bletchley Park are spending 24 hours a day decoding the messages. Hope remains. Cicely Winterbourne works at Bletchley Park. She's an ordinary girl, but nearly every dirty little secret of WWII passes through her hands. One may get her killed. Already two people have been murdered, and Cicely must find out who wants her dead: the Germans, the Russians, or an entity to terrifying to consider. The world hangs in the balance, and as perhaps the only person in Britain able to save her country, Cicely knows she can confide in no one—not even Alistair Fielding, dashing war hero of Dunkirk. The first law of espionage is to never trust anyone, not even those who make you burn with desire. And especially not when there's a …Blood Moon Over Britain.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Just in time to be the most wanted gift for the holidays, BLOOD MOON OVER BRITAIN is finally here! As most readers know, Pippin's first work, BLOOD MOON OVER BENGAL, is quite coveted and honored, and is my top pick read of 2004. Thank goodness we have such a talented storyteller on our hands, that she is able to follow up such a praiseworthy novel with this next unusual story.

Why is it unusual? Because it's so rare to find an author that doesn't gloss over the real details. I don't mean describing the scenery, weather, or even the characters. I mean one that can actually put you in the pages and surround you with the lives of their characters. One that brings all of those elements together and embellishes them in a way that is nearly tangible. Again, the use of slang terms and pop culture during those dreary days in London, 1942, do just that. How horrible to live through the blackouts and the bombings! How exciting to see the old jitterbug dancing! Those are things I may have known about, but never experienced. Until I read this book, that is. Now I feel like I was actually there, observing it all.

The long and short of it is that BLOOD MOON OVER BRITAIN contains everything you need for a perfect story: A murder mystery, a hero and heroine you admire and wish you knew, spies, love, intrigue, tension, humor, sadness, and romance. It's believable and exceptional. The same formula that propelled me to fall for the first one, works in the follow up, too. Unfortunately for Morag McKendrick Pippin, I now expect perfection every time!

Shannon Johnson