The Language of the Dead, Stephen Kelly
The Language of the Dead, Stephen Kelly
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
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The Language of the Dead
A World War II Mystery

Author: Stephen Kelly

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 10 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/15/2015


Synopsis

German bombers are arriving daily, seeking to crush England. But in a rural Hampshire village, things have remained fairly quiet—until an elderly loner, Will Blackwell, is brutally murdered. The method of his killing bears the hallmarks of the traditional vanquishing of a witch, and indeed, local legend claims that as a boy, Blackwell encountered a ghostly black dog sent from the devil, who struck a bargain for Blackwell's soul.



Not long after the murder, a young woman who is carrying the illegitimate child of a fighter pilot also is violently killed; then a local drunkard ends up in the race of an abandoned mill with the back of his head bashed in. As the Germans continue their relentless attack, Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb rushes to solve the crimes. Do the killer's motivations lie in the murky regions of the occult?

About Stephen Kelly

Stephen Kelly is an award-winning writer, reporter, editor, and newspaper columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, and Baltimore magazine. Stephen has taught writing and journalism at Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, and Sweet Briar College. He lives in Columbia, Maryland.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ken on April 20, 2015

Fans of BBC's "Foyle's War" detective series will enjoy this excellent first novel. Set in rural England during the days of the blitz, it relates the story of a small town police force investigating a series of murders, while at the same time dealing with the fear and uncertainty of the war, and the......more

Goodreads review by J.R. on June 17, 2016

German bombs are falling nightly on rural England in 1940 and Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb is worrying about the safety of his daughter, Vera, who has taken a job as air raid warden in the Hampshire village of Quimby, when he receives word an elderly man has been brutally murdered in the same vil......more

Goodreads review by Glen on August 20, 2017

I won this book in a goodreads drawing. I guess this idea of setting British mysteries during World War II is a trend, as this has to be at least the fourth series that is doing it. It's the darkest days of the war for the British, as the Nazis are bombing the blighty shores almost daily. Most all of......more

Goodreads review by susan on April 20, 2015

If you are a fan of BBC series Foyle's War you might like this.......more

Goodreads review by Heather on January 31, 2017

This book reads and feels like an American trying to write as an English person. The number of times I had to read the word 'bloody' and 'fag' was unbearable. The plot was weak to say the least. I felt as if every time the book was becoming boring he would throw in a dead body. Like other reviewers......more