January 1941, London, and Detective Inspector John Jago is one of those remaining at Scotland Yard to police the streets during the blitz. A time when the country should be banding together is still seen as an opportunity for some to take advantage of the chaos for personal gain – and for murder.

Rosemary Webster was an angel of mercy – she had taken in victims of the Blitz, refugees from war-ravaged Europe – but it seems her kindness had a negative effect. Someone attacked her and left her to die in her Bloomsbury home. As Jago’s investigation leads him from Bloomsbury’s squares to the heart of University College London, he finds that not everyone sees angels in the same light…

This is the tenth book in The Blitz Detective series featuring DI Jago, but my first encounter with him. Looking at the blurb for the first title, it seems that the series to date has only covered about four months – so we’re about halfway through the London Blitz at this time.

The book is to my eyes a fairly straightforward police procedural but with the historical setting adding weight to proceedings. The historical setting is used well, with wartime life brought very effectively to life.

I did feel that, coming in with Book Ten, that I was possibly missing out on some character development for Jago. He and his sidekick feel like a traditional Golden Age pairing, there to investigate but not get significantly involved with the characters. Indeed, a good portion of the book consists of conversations with suspects rather than incident.

The laidback pace works well enough, and while I felt the revelation of the murderer was something of an anticlimax, there was enough to keep the reader occupied along the way. I do wonder if I should go back and get to know Jago from the start as those seem to use the Blitz conditions – air raid shelters, blackouts, etc – a little more directly in the plot.

Pretty sure that fans of the series will find a lot to enjoy here.

The Bloomsbury Murder is out today in hardback and ebook from Allison & Busby. Many thanks for the review copy.