All We Cannot Leave Behind
By Iain Kelly
Format: Paperback
(1 customer review)
Publication Date: 28 Feb 2024
£9.99
Want to buy as an ebook? Click hereCategories: Historical
ISBN: 9781916668140eISBN: 9781835740361
Description
Edinburgh, 1920. Three children are missing, abducted from the poorhouses of the city.
When a body is found near the town of Liberton, Dr Thomas Stevenson, still suffering from the trauma of the First World War, finds himself drawn into the police investigation. But suspicion falls on the woman with the mysterious past who lives with Thomas. Could she be guilty of the brutal murder?
With time running out and lives at stake, Thomas must prove her innocence, but to do that he has to find the real killer and unlock the truth about her secret past. A past that casts a long, dark shadow.
Iain Kelly lives in East Kilbride, Scotland. He is married with two children and works in the media industry as a television editor. A graduate of English Literature from the University of Glasgow, when he is not creating stories through sound and vision, he is writing them. He is the author of the futuristic thrillers A Justified State, State Of Denial and State Of War, and the coming-of-age mystery The Barra Boy.
Reviews
Lynne LeGrow (aka Fictionophile) (Guest Review) - 19 Apr, 2024
Wow! This latest offering by Iain Kelly really packs a punch!
Two protagonists, both pitiable, damaged, and yet strong.
The setting is the small suburban town of Liberton, just three miles from the centre of Glasgow.
Dr. Thomas Stevenson is a veteran of WWI and he is deeply traumatized by the events and the suffering that he witnessed during his time as an army surgeon. Home now, he endures his days, has nightmares, and drinks to excess.
Louise is a young woman who shares Dr. Stevenson's house. They are friends only, and not in a relationship - yet they are both frowned upon for their living arrangements. It is the year 1920. A time when social mores were vastly different than they are today. Thomas and Louise have an amenable arrangement, yet they do not share their deeply troubled pasts with each other. Both of them are secretive about their former lives...
When three babies go missing from local poorhouses, Louise is put under suspicion. Fearful that her unsavory past will come to light, she flees. Thomas, intuiting that Louise must be innocent and would never harm a child, seeks to find her - and the person who is doing these terrible abductions.
Meanwhile, the reader is made privy to different snippets in the life of a young red-headed woman named Jessie. A woman who spent years living in the poorhouses of the city.
The author has accurately portrayed the patriarchal society as it was in 1920 and the years leading up to it. A time when society as a whole was run by men who had the power in all aspects of life. A time when there were no systems in place to provide for the very poor, the homeless, the destitute.
The book had a steady pace that increased near its suspense-filled denouement. The descriptive passages brought the setting and mood of the novel vividly to life.
I'm certain that readers who enjoy well-researched historical crime fiction will enjoy this title immensely.
4.5 stars rounded up
