Review: A Conflict of Interests: An intriguing wartime mystery from the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition

A Conflict of Interests: An intriguing wartime mystery from the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition by Claire Gradidge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third book in the series about Josephine Lester, an illegitimate woman who returns to her birth town of Romsey and, despite the antipathy of many of the locals, gets a job assisting the local solicitor and coroner Bram Nash in investigating suspicious deaths. As children Bram was the leader of their little gang, even though his family were far more wealthy than Jo's and their other friends. Jo was kicked out when she was just fourteen years old, when her grandmother died, and forced to find work in London. Bram was hit in the face by shrapnel during WW1 and is forced to cover his scars with a metal mask which covers half his face.

It's two years since the shocking epilogue to the second book. Britain is on the brink of D-Day.

Bram and Jo are called out to a gruesome death scene, a body has been found in a burned out motor car in a deserted country lane, but before they can start their investigations proper, Bram is taken gravely ill, with blood pouring from the injury he sustained in WW1. While Bram lies in hospital Jo tries to solve the death with the reluctant help of Sergeant Tilling and the local police force, but Jo suspects the body may be that of her errant husband Richard. He might be abusive and a serial cheater, but she would never want him dead. But since she and Bram separately quarrelled with Richard shortly before he died the suspicion will lay squarely with them both unless she can uncover the truth.

I've got to say I thought the murderer's identity was fairly well signalled from the start, what I didn't know was the why - and that was a doozy. What I like about these books is that they are all very different and show character progression. I do hope this isn't the end for our crime-busting duo!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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