Chris Nickson returns to the mean streets of Leeds during World War 2 in The Faces of the Dead, the second of his historical crime fiction novels to feature Cathy Marsden. Cathy, who first appeared in Nickson’s No Precious Truth, is a police constable who has been seconded to the Special Investigations Branch where she is treated with more respect and equality than she was in the mainstream police.
The Faces of the Dead opens in 1944 with the accidental death of a small time crook Eric Carr and his girlfriend, Nina Cordell, in a car accident. It turns out that the car was carrying contraband American goods and that Eric was in league with an American who is stealing goods from army bases. Soon there is a full-on gang war in Leeds with underworld figures going missing and Cathy’s team have to work with an American who is investigating from his side. At the same time, Cathy also gets an opportunity to reconnect with her boyfriend Tom who has been given some leave before an upcoming big push into Europe (which we now know is D-Day).
Nickson gives a genuine feel to the city of Leeds in the later part of the Second World War. Saved from too much of the bombing it was still a city living in fear, now starting to feel hope that the war is coming to an end. He does this through the eyes of Cathy Marsden, a very effective policewoman who is allowed to use her skills so long as she is not in contact with the police who believe that the frontline is no place for a woman. All of which makes The Faces of the Dead a solid, atmospheric historical crime fiction and a great entry in this growing series.
The Faces of the Dead by Chris Nickson
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