London, 1943.
The wartime private detective Johnny βOne-Eyeβ Hawke is dealing with a strange client.
He swears heβs seen a ghost β his wife, dead for years, appeared out of nowhere on a tube station platform.
Meanwhile, a sinister new protection racket has set itself up on Johnnyβs patch, operated by the mysteriously re-invigorated Bernstein gang.
Their violence is getting a little too close for comfort...
Jonny must solve the strange case of the platform ghost, under fire from the Bernstein gang.
But as Johnny searches through the blackout for the elusive Beryl, he also has to deal with the realisation that for the first time in his life he is in love β with Maxine, a costume designer who, thankfully, has been called away from London on work.
At least sheβs out of harmβs way.
Or so Johnny thinks...
The Darkness of Death is a gripping mystery set against the backdrop of London during the Second World War.
Praise for David Stuart Davies:
βSherlock Holmes expert Davies effectively captures London of a later era in this taut page-turnerβ β Kirkus
βJohnny Hawke is a keeperβ β Booklist
βA neatly crafted crime novel offering an unusual perspective on wartime London, by turns dark and poignant.β β Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy
David Stuart Davies was born in 1946. He was a teacher of English before becoming a full-time editor, writer, and playwright. Davies has written extensively about Sherlock Holmes, both fiction and non-fiction. He is the editor of Red Herrings, the monthly in-house publication of the Crime Writersβ Association.