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A Death In The Hospital by Caroline Dunford
The Blurb On The Back:
It is August 1914 and war has been declared. Spymaster Fitzroy returns from France with a team of highly trained spotters wounded and unfit for duty. While Euphemia’s husband, Bertram, is away undertaking Fitzroy’s next mission, Euphemia and Merry go undercover as nurses in the hospital where Fitzroy’s four surviving scouts are being treated. It is feared one of them is a traitor and Euphemia must identify him before it is too late …
At the hospital, Euphemia encounters a black-market racketeer, the impenetrable high security Ward D, and an old familiar face who believes some deaths on his ward are a result of foul play. Uncovering far more than she’d bargained for, Euphemia will need all her strength, wit, and ingenuity to survive unscathed …
It’s August 1914.
Britain and France are at war with Germany and although most people seem confident that the conflict will be over by Christmas, her adventures in A DEATH AT THE RACES with spymaster, Eric Fitzroy, have left 24-year-old Euphemia Stapleford worried that the war will drag on for much longer. While Fitzroy is on the continent training a group of spotters to support the army, while Euphemia is with her husband, Bertram, at their country house White Orchids identifying potential supply lines.
When an injured Fitzroy unexpectedly visits White Orchids, he confides in Euphemia that he thinks there is a traitor in their midst because he and his spotters were ambushed by the Germans and took heavy casualties. He asks Euphemia and her friend the former maid Merry to go undercover as trainee nurses at the south coast hospital where his 4 surviving spotters are recuperating to identify the traitor. At the same time Fitzroy needs Bertram to impersonate him on a simple mission to France to give him time to recuperate and although Euphemia is not happy with the idea of her sickly husband being put in danger, Fitzroy assures her that the mission should be safe enough.
At the hospital, Euphemia and Merry juggle medical training with Matron’s strict rules and cattiness among their fellow trainees. In addition to getting to know the 4 spotters on the highly secret Ward D, Euphemia also discovers black market activity and bumps into former butler and old flame Rory McLeod who suffered a severe leg injury on the front lines but whose stay on the ward has left him convinced that someone is killing his fellow patients. It will take all of Euphemia’s resourcefulness if she’s to balance her mission with this new investigation, especially when the traitor will do anything to protect their identity …
The 15th in Caroline Dunford’s historical mystery series sets up a new overarching storyline of a mole at the heart of the British secret service at the start of World War I. Although the plot lines are a imbalanced and Euphemia’s relationship with Fitzroy more interesting than that with Bertram, Euphemia is a proactive and determined investigator and Dunford cleverly shows how her work strains both her friendship with Merry and her marriage.
I picked this up having read the first book in this series A DEATH IN THE FAMILY and the 17th, A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN. That means I’ve missed a fair amount of backstory here but although this did have an impact on my enjoyment of A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN but ironically, having read that later book I understood more of and was able to follow what happened here.
Having started as a historical crime mystery series, I think Dunford made a good decision in switching this to historical spy thriller because it offers much more scope for the stories, especially as the action switches to World War I. At the same time it gives Euphemia more of an action role, which also gives her more ability to discuss the expectations placed on and attitudes towards women at the time and gives the book more depth. All of this means that there’s a lot to enjoy in the novel beyond the mystery of the identity of the traitor in Fitzroy’s unit.
There are 2 main plot lines in the book - the identity of Fitzroy’s traitor and what or who is responsible for the mysterious deaths in the hospital. There is a slight imbalance between the two and if I’m being picky then I wish that there’d been a little more on the hospital deaths because of the way they tie together in the end, but for the most part they run along at a good pace and held my interest. The hospital death plot line also reintroduces Rory (who I had last seen in A DEATH IN THE FAMILY and who has clearly had more of a relationship with Euphemia in the intervening books) and having read A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN I know that this plays into their future relationship. It also creates conflict between Euphemia and Merry, who feels excluded by Euphemia’s independence and by the fact that there are things Euphemia can’t share with her, but who has also had to leave her baby son with her sister in order to undergo this mission and who is worried about her husband who has joined up. I remember Merry from A DEATH IN THE FAMILY but have missed her developing friendship with Euphemia in subsequent books and I liked the way Dunford has her point out how class overshadows their relationship.
The traitor storyline is fairly straightforward. I enjoyed seeing the men in Fitzroy’s unit, particularly the cold Hobson, and Dunford does well at showing how despite their different characters, they all respect Fitzroy. I also enjoyed the way Fitzroy’s valet Griffin makes a surprise appearance, especially because it raises questions that I know get resolved in A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN.
The biggest issue that I have with the book is that I don’t buy Euphemia’s relationship with Bertram at all. Obviously, I have not read the preceding books, but their scenes here lack a chemistry that is more evident in Euphemia’s scenes with Fitzroy. It’s interesting that other characters assume that Euphemia and Fitzroy are together, especially given what happens between this book and A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN and Fitzroy is simply more interesting as a character - dynamic, ruthless but also capable of seeing Euphemia’s strengths and wanting her to be more than just a housewife.
All in all, notwithstanding my criticisms this is an enjoyable read that held my interest and made me want to read the other books in this series.
The Verdict:
The 15th in Caroline Dunford’s historical mystery series sets up a new overarching storyline of a mole at the heart of the British secret service at the start of World War I. Although the plot lines are a imbalanced and Euphemia’s relationship with Fitzroy more interesting than that with Bertram, Euphemia is a proactive and determined investigator and Dunford cleverly shows how her work strains both her friendship with Merry and her marriage.
It is August 1914 and war has been declared. Spymaster Fitzroy returns from France with a team of highly trained spotters wounded and unfit for duty. While Euphemia’s husband, Bertram, is away undertaking Fitzroy’s next mission, Euphemia and Merry go undercover as nurses in the hospital where Fitzroy’s four surviving scouts are being treated. It is feared one of them is a traitor and Euphemia must identify him before it is too late …
At the hospital, Euphemia encounters a black-market racketeer, the impenetrable high security Ward D, and an old familiar face who believes some deaths on his ward are a result of foul play. Uncovering far more than she’d bargained for, Euphemia will need all her strength, wit, and ingenuity to survive unscathed …
It’s August 1914.
Britain and France are at war with Germany and although most people seem confident that the conflict will be over by Christmas, her adventures in A DEATH AT THE RACES with spymaster, Eric Fitzroy, have left 24-year-old Euphemia Stapleford worried that the war will drag on for much longer. While Fitzroy is on the continent training a group of spotters to support the army, while Euphemia is with her husband, Bertram, at their country house White Orchids identifying potential supply lines.
When an injured Fitzroy unexpectedly visits White Orchids, he confides in Euphemia that he thinks there is a traitor in their midst because he and his spotters were ambushed by the Germans and took heavy casualties. He asks Euphemia and her friend the former maid Merry to go undercover as trainee nurses at the south coast hospital where his 4 surviving spotters are recuperating to identify the traitor. At the same time Fitzroy needs Bertram to impersonate him on a simple mission to France to give him time to recuperate and although Euphemia is not happy with the idea of her sickly husband being put in danger, Fitzroy assures her that the mission should be safe enough.
At the hospital, Euphemia and Merry juggle medical training with Matron’s strict rules and cattiness among their fellow trainees. In addition to getting to know the 4 spotters on the highly secret Ward D, Euphemia also discovers black market activity and bumps into former butler and old flame Rory McLeod who suffered a severe leg injury on the front lines but whose stay on the ward has left him convinced that someone is killing his fellow patients. It will take all of Euphemia’s resourcefulness if she’s to balance her mission with this new investigation, especially when the traitor will do anything to protect their identity …
The 15th in Caroline Dunford’s historical mystery series sets up a new overarching storyline of a mole at the heart of the British secret service at the start of World War I. Although the plot lines are a imbalanced and Euphemia’s relationship with Fitzroy more interesting than that with Bertram, Euphemia is a proactive and determined investigator and Dunford cleverly shows how her work strains both her friendship with Merry and her marriage.
I picked this up having read the first book in this series A DEATH IN THE FAMILY and the 17th, A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN. That means I’ve missed a fair amount of backstory here but although this did have an impact on my enjoyment of A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN but ironically, having read that later book I understood more of and was able to follow what happened here.
Having started as a historical crime mystery series, I think Dunford made a good decision in switching this to historical spy thriller because it offers much more scope for the stories, especially as the action switches to World War I. At the same time it gives Euphemia more of an action role, which also gives her more ability to discuss the expectations placed on and attitudes towards women at the time and gives the book more depth. All of this means that there’s a lot to enjoy in the novel beyond the mystery of the identity of the traitor in Fitzroy’s unit.
There are 2 main plot lines in the book - the identity of Fitzroy’s traitor and what or who is responsible for the mysterious deaths in the hospital. There is a slight imbalance between the two and if I’m being picky then I wish that there’d been a little more on the hospital deaths because of the way they tie together in the end, but for the most part they run along at a good pace and held my interest. The hospital death plot line also reintroduces Rory (who I had last seen in A DEATH IN THE FAMILY and who has clearly had more of a relationship with Euphemia in the intervening books) and having read A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN I know that this plays into their future relationship. It also creates conflict between Euphemia and Merry, who feels excluded by Euphemia’s independence and by the fact that there are things Euphemia can’t share with her, but who has also had to leave her baby son with her sister in order to undergo this mission and who is worried about her husband who has joined up. I remember Merry from A DEATH IN THE FAMILY but have missed her developing friendship with Euphemia in subsequent books and I liked the way Dunford has her point out how class overshadows their relationship.
The traitor storyline is fairly straightforward. I enjoyed seeing the men in Fitzroy’s unit, particularly the cold Hobson, and Dunford does well at showing how despite their different characters, they all respect Fitzroy. I also enjoyed the way Fitzroy’s valet Griffin makes a surprise appearance, especially because it raises questions that I know get resolved in A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN.
The biggest issue that I have with the book is that I don’t buy Euphemia’s relationship with Bertram at all. Obviously, I have not read the preceding books, but their scenes here lack a chemistry that is more evident in Euphemia’s scenes with Fitzroy. It’s interesting that other characters assume that Euphemia and Fitzroy are together, especially given what happens between this book and A DEATH OF A DEAD MAN and Fitzroy is simply more interesting as a character - dynamic, ruthless but also capable of seeing Euphemia’s strengths and wanting her to be more than just a housewife.
All in all, notwithstanding my criticisms this is an enjoyable read that held my interest and made me want to read the other books in this series.
The Verdict:
The 15th in Caroline Dunford’s historical mystery series sets up a new overarching storyline of a mole at the heart of the British secret service at the start of World War I. Although the plot lines are a imbalanced and Euphemia’s relationship with Fitzroy more interesting than that with Bertram, Euphemia is a proactive and determined investigator and Dunford cleverly shows how her work strains both her friendship with Merry and her marriage.