Dover in 1940 is a town on the edge of invasion, hovering, waiting. When the Germans Come by David Hewson is a World War Two story not cut from the usual cloth of wartime thrillers. Set in the East Kent garrison town, the part of Britain nearest to France and  suspected to be the landing point when the Germans come, this is a murder mystery. After the evacuation of some mothers and children, most locals stay put surrounded by the military and by chancers arriving in town to make a living from the soldiers. For the locals, determined not to be turned out of their homes by Nazis, it’s a matter of when not if the Germans invade. ‘No one cares a damm about anything except Jerry and when he’s going to come.’
Hewson takes his time establishing the state of play in the town, who is who. The two central characters are Louis Renard, English despite the French name, he is a Scotland Yard detective who suffered a head injury during the Dunkirk evacuation and is newly arrived in Dover. Renard is living with his elderly aunt and still suffers from flashbacks to Dunkirk and a terrible case he was investigating in London. Canadian foreign correspondent Jessica Marshall arrives in town looking for an edgy story, something to make her name.
Both are treated with suspicion as foreigners, incomers, by the military and the locals, considered possible German informers or spys. Renard is restricted in his job by the lack of support, no coroner, no pathologist, just a desk, a telephone and a willing junior. Marshall is suffocated by the reporting restrictions imposed by Captain David Shearer at Dover’s Ministry of Information. Renard is curious about Shearer, ‘He appeared to have a remit which ran far wider than controlling information in and out of the town.’ Better to do your job and don’t ask questions, is the unspoken advice to Renard. Marshall is similarly limited by Shearer, allowed only to write puff pieces to raise morale.
The pace increases when the body of a woman is found in a top secret location. It is a clifftop hideout designed for use as a resistance cell if the worst happens, one of Churchill’s Auxiliary Units. Renard and Marshall ignore warnings to stay clear of the site. Annoyed the body is moved and the location cleaned, both ask awkward questions, both just want to do their job. But this is wartime and in Dover there are layers of secrets, the military installations, the newcomers like Shearer and local criminals looking to make money from war. And spies. Spies for the allies, possibly spies for the Germans. The harder Renard and Marshall push for the truth, the quicker the cracks appear.
When the Germans Come is a detective story set during wartime when priorities are transformed. What is more important, the war or the murder of a woman? Moral dilemmas are explored as everyday dislikes and resentments intensify during wartime, movement and information restrictions imposed, prejudices reinforced. It is cauldron of rumour in which assumptions take flight. Through it all, Renard never forgets he is first and foremost a policeman. He refuses to allow war to stop him doing his job and in the process finds himself again after the horror of Dunkirk.
Slow to start, the tension tightens and tightens until I read late into the night. The ending is so abrupt, I suspect another Louis Renard installment.

Read my review of THE GARDEN OF ANGELS, also by David Hewson.

If you like this, try:-
‘Corpus’ by Rory Clements #1TOMWILDE
‘The Secret Shore’ by Liz Fenwick
‘The Silence in Between’ by Josie Ferguson

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-