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Stratton's War cover art

Stratton's War

By: Laura Wilson
Narrated by: Sean Barrett, Anna Bentinck
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Summary

London, June 1940. When the body of silent screen star Mabel Morgan is found impaled on railings, the coroner rules her death as suicide, but DI Ted Stratton of CID is not convinced.

As he starts asking questions, it becomes clear that Morgan's fatal fall may have been the work of one of Soho's most notorious gangsters. When Stratton's path crosses with MI5 agent Diana Calthrop, they uncover a criminal network and a secretive pro-Fascist organisation.

It soon becomes clear that the intrigues of the Secret Service are alarmingly similar to the machinations of war-torn London's underworld.

©2008 Laura Wilson (P)2008 Isis Publishing Ltd

Critic reviews

"A compelling and wonderfully atmospheric murder mystery deftly woven into Blitz-era London." (Robert Goddard)
"Wilson's seventh novel is atmospheric and exciting." (Observer)
"A gritty work of imagination that has the ache and authenticity of the real thing." (Literary Review)

What listeners say about Stratton's War

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A surprising gem of a story

I Really did like this book, the narration moves from the male to the female character with elegance and the story is believable with each character well set for his station and time and I must add, intelligent. Even the ending was realistic. So many stories forget there provenance by trying to end with a big boom! And some of the best just don’t. They end when the story is over. Well done, I will be looking for this author again!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Book, Just lacked That Something Special.

This crime novel is set in London at the beginning of the second World War. The story is told from the point of view of two people, an experienced police inspector and a young woman just recruited into M I 5. The plot is complex and the story is tightly plotted, author Laura Wilson does a fine job of recreating the feel of the capital, as it comes to terms with the imminent German bombing campaign. You get a real sense of how the gritty residents of London coped during the blitz. However the book does have a few small issues, many fine young women were recruited into the security services at this time and history shows us what a crucial role they played. From code breaking to risking their lives in France as part of the Special Operations Executive. My issue is that the main female character is so naive and gullible, would such a weak character have been recruited ?. I believe the author does a disservice to the brave young women who served with such distinction. That said, this story of murder, politics and national security is a fine book and may well work better when read as a paperback or as an ebook.
As an audiobook it has a problem, the use of two narrators. Both Sean Barrett and Anna Bentinck are first class narrators, but in this case two narrators makes the story feel somewhat disjointed. I felt the book worked much better when the two stories merged and the voice of Sean Barrett was used more frequently.
Having voiced my small issues with this novel, I did enjoy it and I have already purchased the second book in the series.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

I am very impressed with this author; my first book by her. I enjoyed all aspects of the story and particularly enjoyed the setting. Realy first class !

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Start of a long series?

Laura Wilson's website indicates that Ted Stratton is going to be around for some time. I for one am very pleased about that as I found this book and the follow up 'An Empty Death'very absorbing. Unfortunately I read them the wrong way round!

But can recommend them as a jolly good read, (to use a term from the era!)

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good 'read'

Good atmosphere, nice character build ups but a few too many clich?s.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Stick with it

I only found this book as I was looking for anything narrated by Sean Barrett that was part of a series and this ticked all the boxes. The story is pretty good though probably the weakest in the series. I didn't like the extra narration for the chapters featuring the lead female character though that is a personal preferences rather than a slight on the actual narration. I decided to stick with it and I'm glad i did. Book 2 is excellent and narrated by Sean alone, as is book 3!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Contemporary themes in an historical setting

A tidy detective novel with a couple of interesting twists - the first being its setting in second world war London with an insight into their way of life and the second being that there are two overlapping stories, told from two perspectives and narrated by two narrators (male and female). The plots are involving and it kept me fully entertained throughout.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Excellent listen. I was not sure about the two narrators (I've had this before and hated it) but it really works on this listen. Readers are excellent, story is great - highly recommend this as a listen.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyable

Once again Det Stratton is fantastic in this book. I was uncertain at first about having 2 readers but it realy added to the listening pleasure.

I do hope there will be a third book. Read these out of order but did not effect the storyline in anyway

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story

Great book, good story and well read, thoroughly enjoy, please can we have more......

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1 person found this helpful