So, History Does Repeat Itself

 

TITLE: Death in the Dark

AUTHOR: Bryce Moore

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

PUBLISHING DATE: August 05, 2025

PAGES: 336   

SOURCE: ARC 

FROM GOODREADS: When multiple women are found murdered in their London homes during The Blitz, seventeen-year-old Mary Churchill vows to uncover the identity of the Blackout Ripper, even if it puts her own life at risk. From the author of The Perfect Place to Die and Don't Go to Sleep comes another chilling historical mystery. 

Seventeen-year-old Mary Churchill feels helpless as London is ravaged by air raids and mandatory blackouts. As the youngest daughter of the Prime Minister, she longs to do something important, to help those in less fortunate circumstances. On a night out on the town, she connects with an older woman who is in-between jobs and promises to meet her again the next day. Except she never shows up. Mary has a sense that something is wrong, so she decides to go searching—and finds her brutally murdered. 

Horrified, Mary immediately goes to the police. But there's a war happening, and they don't have enough manpower to fully dedicate themselves to the murder case. So, Mary takes it upon herself to investigate. The deeper she falls into the case, the more shocking murders she finds. All women, all strangled and mutilated. This is her chance to do something to actually help, to find out who is responsible for the murders and make sure they never have a chance to harm anyone else. 

Against the backdrop of bombings and darkness, Mary searches the streets of London for any clues she might ascertain and finds herself in a game of cat-and-mouse with the Blackout Ripper. If only one of them can make it out alive, does Mary have what it takes to make sure it's her?

MY THOUGHTS: Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy a historical mystery, especially when it is set in London. And although this is technically a Young Adult book, I felt it reached outside the typical YA tropes and can stand up against many adult titles similar in plot and theme.

Mary Churchill (yes, her dad is Winston), wants nothing more than to contribute to the fight against Hitler like many of her friends.  However, being a 17-year-old female doesn't provide her with much opportunity to do so.  Mary goes out one night and meets a woman in a club and ends up striking up a lengthy conversation with her.  Mary feels connected to the woman and is very upset the next morning when she finds her murdered.  Mary becomes frustrated because she feels that due to the war, the police do not have the staff to investigate this murder, and several subsequent related murders, sufficiently, so she starts investigating on her own.  Can Mary find out who is doing the killing without getting killed herself?  Will her mother find out what she is doing and pack her up and send her back to the country?  And will the police, who initially were humoring her and "letting" her help realize just because she is 17 doesn't mean she doesn't have a good head on her shoulders?

I really liked Mary as a character.  She was smart, headstrong and showed a lot of initiative.  She feels like she should also contribute to the war efforts and does what she can to do her share any way she can. The murder mystery kept me interested and wasn't overly predictable.  I also liked the war elements that were worked in.  The bombings and atmosphere around the Blitz definitely added to the creepiness of the murder mystery.

I have seen several books by this author, but this is the first I picked up. I will most certainly check out more in the future.  When reading this, I kind of compared it to a YA Veronica Speedwell book so if that's your forte, consider this one as well.  Oh, and as a plus - no romance. Not that I'm opposed to that, but it would have felt contrived with this book and I'm glad the author didn't go there.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS