This mystery set in the East End during WW2 has as it's lead character an undertaker who is half Indian and suffers from what we'd now call PTSD after having served in WW1. In this book, we find Frank Hancock burying a your gypsy woman, from a group of gypsies in Epping Forest. Her sister sees a vision of something and this is interpreted as the Virgin Mary by the people who are living in the forest to avoid the bombing. Mixed up in this is a Romany of German extraction and a relic. Someone wants to get their hands on Martin and the relic, but is there a more sinister motive? There is a lot going on in here, maybe a bit too much, and it gets a bit frantic at the end. ( )

Set during the Blitz in London 1940. Francis Hancock is an undertaker of Indian/British parentage trying to care for his family while dealing with shell-shock from "the first one". When he is asked to handle the funeral for a gypsy girl from Epping Forest he is led into an unexpected twist to a spy hunt. This book was darker than others in the series as it featured Mosley's Blackshirts in the police force, however, Nadel strives for accuracy in her stories. I enjoy Francis Hancock novels for the clearly London east end location and for her departure from the usual. ( )

Nadels andra bok om begravningsentreprenören Hancock, som råkar ut för underliga dödsfall under Blitzen i London 1940, är ännu bättre än den första. Förutom att vara en spännande deckare innehåller den en hel del intressanta karaktärer (inte minst Hancock själv) och framför allt lyfter den fram romernas situation i andra världskrigets England och Europa på ett bra sätt. ( )