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review 2014-04-11 19:58
Murder on the Home Front
Murder on the Home Front: A True Story of Morgues, Murderers, and Mysteries during the London Blitz - Molly Lefebure

This was first published back in 1955 with the title of Evidence for the Crown: Experiences of a Pathologist's Secretary. Molly Lefebure spent five years during WWII working as the secretary for Dr. Keith Simpson, a famous pathologist. It was unusual at the time for a woman to work in a mortuary and that is why Lefebure's experiences are so unique.

 

I requested this book because I am always eager to learn more about WWII. This book was a bit different than others that I have read because this book concentrates on solving murders and doing postmortems in England during the war as opposed to efforts towards the war. It was really fascinating reading about how they continued to solve murders and deal with deaths while the war was taking place.

 

This book could have been overly morbid but Molly Lefebure really brought a wry sense of humor and the trademark British stiff upper lip that were prevalent at the time. It was kind of weird to be chuckling at a book with so many dead bodies in it but it made it an enjoyable read. I have to admit though that I don't quite agree with all of Lefebure's opinions on certain things like hanging being a humane way to execute someone or how a woman should stay home and concentrate on her marriage (a least for a few years in the beginning) but I do understand that this was originally written back in the 1950's and times were different back then.

 

Lefebure discusses some of the more famous murders and deaths that she worked on with Dr. Simpson and it was fascinating getting to read her observations of the cases. She also mentions cases that were not as famous and you really get a good understanding of them.

 

This was an absolutely fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading more about deaths and the solving of murders in England during WWII. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.

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review 2013-05-27 00:00
Murder on the Home Front
Murder on the Home Front - Molly Lefebur... Murder on the Home Front - Molly Lefebure This is written in an easy to read manner and is laced not with just murder,mayhem and blood but with a droll sense of humour. She tells not just how thw sights she sees at murder scenes and in the morgue but also how the continuing years of war affected her in particular and the rest of the country . I read this very quickly and plan to re-read Forty years of Murder which is Professor Keith Simpson's autobiography
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