Why I set my new mystery series in the 1950s

I chose the starting point for the novels as 1950 because it is a fascinating time. An era caught between the aftermath of the war and the beginning of the cultural and social revolution of the ‘swinging sixties’. Memories of the war are very strong, and the fear of more world conflicts haunt people. The Korean War is in progress and National Service has been extended. All around is the legacy of the war with bombsites and rubble, bombed out buildings and houses, abandoned military bases in the country and overgrown pillboxes and batteries littering the coast.
With the housing shortages caused by the bombing many are living in privately rented dinghy cramped bedsits and poor quality houses with little privacy, comfort and warmth. Or in prefabs, railway carriages, houseboats, or huts. The housing boom and erection of new towns and cities has yet to materialise.
Rationing of some goods is still in operation. There are severe shortages of many consumer products, ‘make-do-and-mend’ carries on as does the black market.
And there are many fractured lives – widows and widowers, mothers and fathers who have lost sons and daughters, people maimed and scarred both physically and emotionally. Others, who after experiencing the adrenaline rush of combat and a varied and exciting life, are finding it hard to adjust, some seek ways to cope through alcohol, crime, and substance abuse.
Many women who worked in the war are now back at home, some pleased to be, others very much less so. They’re not expected to have careers, but jobs to tide them over before they marry and have children.
After the war came the nationalisation of the coal mines, the railways, the Bank of England and the iron and steel industry. The creation of the free National Health Service improved the quality of medical care, especially for the elderly, women and the poor.
Abortions are illegal, so back street practitioners flourish. There is a social stigma attached to illegitimacy. Divorce is not acceptable in many circles. Homosexuality is illegal. Capital punishment is still in operation.
Policing in the 1950s is also vastly different, no mobile phones, no dashing about and no computers so it was extremely interesting to research and write from both the social and the police point of view.
Ryga's experience at sea, and as a German prisoner-of-war, has made him unique in his approach to solving coastal based crimes. He's observant, analytical and reflective. He's witnessed compassion, cruelty, cowardice and heroism, mental breakdown and despair. He’s made a promise to himself that whatever happens after the war he’ll keep an open mind and never judge.
Whereas Ryga is quiet, reflective, analytical, Eva is very self-assured. She’s forthright, sociable, and comfortable in her own skin, professional with a successful career, a formidable reputation behind her, along with a taste for danger. Her observations seen through the lens of her camera are disturbing, enlightening and thought provoking.
They make a formidable team - villains beware!'Death in the Cove is a great read and one I recommend to any crime fans.' BH Living Magazine
Newly promoted at Scotland Yard, Ryga is on his first solo investigation outside of London, he has to solve the mystery of why a man in a pin-striped suit is found murdered in an isolated cove on the Island of Portland in Dorset.
"Ryga studied the face of the dead man with interest. Death no longer had the power to shock him. He’d seen too much of it. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel sorrow, pity, anger or despair, or sometimes all four emotions and in such a swift succession that they became one. This time he felt none of these, only professional curiosity.”
Death in the Harbour, Inspector Ryga Mystery (2)
ScotlandYard's Inspector Alun Ryga is sent to Newhaven, East Sussex to unravel themystery of why an ordinary police constable was murdered and his wife has gonemissing
"Pure detection… a great read.”
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Available in paperback, as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle Kobo and an audio book, narrated by Jonathan Rhodes and published by B7 Media available on Audible or from B7 Media Download the audio book
MARCH 9TH, 2021 @ 6:48:19 GMT
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