Displaced Person

Inspector Kentworthy #17

by John Buxton Hilton

'They know her as Jacqueline Fernet-and she's in trouble. And the Examining Magistrate has apparently unearthed a connection with British Wartime Intelligence. Your name has cropped up, and he'd like to talk to you about it.' Retired Superintendent Kenworthy would never have recognized his wartime acquaintance Marie-Therese in the ageing woman found near a murdered man with three-quarters of a million francs in her possession. But he could identify the man. He had been Kenworthy's superior officer in an advance detachment of British troops during the 1944 thrust through the Low Countries. Marie-Therese had been something of a camp-follower and mascot, and Kenworthy learned that other wartime associates had kept in touch with her. Why? Was it blackmail? Marie-Therese had been suspected of it before. But who directed her? And who was their victim?

284 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

About the author

John Buxton Hilton was a British crime writer. After his war service in the army he became an Inspector of schools, before retiring in 1970 to take up full-time writing.

He wrote the Superintendent Simon Kenworthy series and the Inspector Thomas Brunt series, as well as the Inspector Mosley series under the pseudonym John Greenwood. Hilton died in Norwich.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

"In his last case, Superintendent Simon Kenworthy is asked by the French police to help them discover more about a woman they are holding on blackmail charges. As a senior officer with a Field Security Unit in 1944, Kenworthy had befriended her; back then she was lost and beautiful refugee. Now, forty years later, Kenworthy must unravel the mystery of who she is, who her present day associates are ... and what crimes they may or may not have committed in the meantime.

"And when Kenworthy discovers that his senior officer from those wartime days has been found murdered -- and that the mysterious woman is a prime suspect of the French police -- he must relive the dramatic events surrounding the French resistance, unearth long-buried passions and deadly crimes of the past to discover the truth about the present murder."
~~front & back flaps

I thought this book was a "last gasp" style of thing from the author. Just like the previous book that dealt with Kenworthy's war days, a great deal of the book was a retelling of what had happened then, both to Kenworthy and to Marie-Therese. As for what had happened now, it was all quite murky. The alleged crime wasn't identified until the very end, it wasn't clear why former-Captain George Gantry was killed or who actually killed him. A very unsatisfactory close for an author's career.