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Murder On The Home Front by Molly Lefebure
May. 9th, 2021 05:18 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
It is 1941. While the ‘war of chaos’ rages in the skies above London, an unending fight against violence, murder and the criminal underworld continues on the streets below.
One ordinary day, in an ordinary courtroom, forensic pathologist Dr Keith Simpson asks a keen young journalist to be his secretary. Although the ‘horrors of secretarial work’ don’t appeal to Molly Lefurbure, she’s intrigued to know exactly what goes on behind a mortuary door.
Capable and curious, ‘Miss Molly’ quickly becomes indispensable to Dr Simpson as he meticulously pursues the truth. Accompanying him from sombre morgues to London’s most gruesome crime scenes, Molly observes and assists as he uncovers the dark secrets that all murder victims keep.
With a sharp sense of humour and a rebellious spirit, Molly tells her own remarkable true story here with warmth and wit, painting a vivid portrait of wartime London.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Molly Lefebure was a writer and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This fascinating memoir (first published in 1954) of her time working as secretary to the acclaimed forensic pathologist Dr Keith Simpson between 1941 and 1945 gives you a real feel for crime detection during this time and also of what life in the Blitz was like although it is a book of its time so some of the off-hand comments about race, disability and gender drew a wince.
One ordinary day, in an ordinary courtroom, forensic pathologist Dr Keith Simpson asks a keen young journalist to be his secretary. Although the ‘horrors of secretarial work’ don’t appeal to Molly Lefurbure, she’s intrigued to know exactly what goes on behind a mortuary door.
Capable and curious, ‘Miss Molly’ quickly becomes indispensable to Dr Simpson as he meticulously pursues the truth. Accompanying him from sombre morgues to London’s most gruesome crime scenes, Molly observes and assists as he uncovers the dark secrets that all murder victims keep.
With a sharp sense of humour and a rebellious spirit, Molly tells her own remarkable true story here with warmth and wit, painting a vivid portrait of wartime London.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )The Verdict:
Molly Lefebure was a writer and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This fascinating memoir (first published in 1954) of her time working as secretary to the acclaimed forensic pathologist Dr Keith Simpson between 1941 and 1945 gives you a real feel for crime detection during this time and also of what life in the Blitz was like although it is a book of its time so some of the off-hand comments about race, disability and gender drew a wince.
