Francis Hancock Books
October 1940. The London borough of West Ham is in the grip of yet another night of bombing, and undertaker Francis Hancock is in the grip of yet another night of temporary insanity. A veteran of World War One, Francis is forced by the nightly air raids to relive the trauma of the trenches, and all he can do is try to outrun the horrific flashbacks. So when he sees a man lurching through the rubble, screaming about being stabbed but with no visible wound, Francis dismisses it at the ravings of another lost soul... until the man's body turns up at his funeral parlour, two days later. Suspecting foul play, Francis feels compelled to discover what really happened that night - but he finds himself pitted against violent thugs, an impenetrable network of lies and his own fragile sanity.
In the dark days of the Blitz, crime goes undercover... Undertaker Francis Hancock has seen the worst that humanity can do to itself. Why then does the murder of a young gypsy girl in Epping Forest move him so much? Travellers, gypsies, the homeless, deserters and German spies inhabit this stretch of open ground that was once her home. Francis knows it's not wise to delve into this human melting pot, but he is drawn to the exotic customs of the gypsies, their music and magic. But as he investigates the girl's murder further, the death toll rises and Francis uncovers a much bigger conspiracy, at the heart of which lies something even Adolf Hitler is prepared to kill for...
It's 29 December 1940, the night that Hitler has chosen to destroy London under a barrage of flaming incendiary bombs. Their main target - St Paul's cathedral - is where Francis Hancock is sheltering from the onslaught. But the First World War veteran doesn't just have bombs to contend with on this night. A young girl, who was also sheltering in the cathedral, mysteriously goes missing. Then some of those charged with protecting the building are brutally murdered. Francis must face both his own demons and fears in his struggle to catch those responsible and bring them to justice...
The chilling World War Two crime mystery by the award-winning author Barbara Nadel; fourth in the highly popular Francis Hancock series. East London, 1940: Francis Hancock finds the brutally eviscerated body of a woman in a derelict house. Francis' sister, Nancy, knew the victim. Then, shockingly, two more murders follow. Rumours start to spread through the East End about another Jack the Ripper. When a fourth woman is murdered, Nancy admits that she knew all of the victims, and Francis sets out to find the killer, discovering a trail of murderous resentment that goes back decades...