The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox: Winner of the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition (Josephine Fox Mysteries)

Good story, different time period, well written, great character development. Author has done good job. Overall a one time read!!

Need not worry to read it.only time pass book.I expected some thing more from this writer but disappointed some times it happens in this way

This story is set over two weeks in a small Hampshire town during the 2nd World War. Following the death of her Mother, Josephine Fox decides to return to her home town seventeen years after her Grandfather threw her out, because she was illegitimate and her beloved Grandmother was no longer alive to protect her. At 14 she was put on a train to London with a little money and told not to come back. However now she is no longer a scared child and she has a compelling reason to return; she wants to find out who her father is and why her Mother was still so scared of him that she refused to tell her his identity.On the night she returned a local pub was bombed and eight bodies were discovered in its ruins. Bram Nash, a solicitor and the local Coroner is confused by the appearance of one of the bodies, unlike the other victims her death doesn’t seem to have been caused by the bombing. Bram thinks that the body has been dumped in the confusion to cover up a murder. He feels that he must find out why she died and why no-one has come forward to identify her.Bram is among the first people that Jo sees on her return, they had been childhood friends who had a one-night stand a year earlier in London following an accidental meeting. She goes to his office and notices an advert for an assistant, as she needs a job she asks him to employ her. The assistant has to attend scenes of crimes and post-mortem, not considered a suitable job for a woman in the 1940s. However, Barm agrees to take her on trial and despite considerable opposition they try to find out about the dead girl.The synopsis was interesting and I was looking forward to reading it, but as the story unfolded I became irritated by how it jumped around, I am not sure if this was a device to increase the tension, but it failed with me. Fairly early on I thought I knew identity of the offender so I wasn’t completely surprised come the reveal. I don’t know if a follow up is planned, maybe that is why it finished abruptly and with so many loose ends. Also I thought that Jo’s repeated use of the “F” word was out of character for a woman of her age and class at that time. It’s probably only 30-40 years ago that the word came into common usage and back then mostly to stress annoyance or contempt, not the act of sex.It felt like the author had condensed the story into a two week timeframe but given the main characters the equivalent of three months worth of experiences which was confusing. Jo was secretive and this led her into dangerous situations, only telling Bram about important discoveries when it was almost too late. Also she didn’t tell him that she was back in Romsey to find her Father, had she done, that mystery would have been solved much earlier.I think it captured the small town, small mind scenario well, money and power controlled public opinion and thus ensured people were kept in their class and couldn’t better themselves. Illegitimacy was a stigma, the woman was always to blame, because men were only doing what came naturally. The powerless were abused in many ways and people either turned a blind eye to what was happening or refused to believe it. The scale of the abuse hinted at in this book was awful, another reviewer said it was filth, a disgusting book, that is not my opinion, the crimes were appalling but the author did not dwell on them or sensationalise them. These crimes are not confined to this era, exploitation has always been around.I found this an interesting read on many levels but the writing style spoiled my enjoyment and the loose ends were frustrating.

I wanted to love this novel because I am a huge fan of the 1940s, but it just didn't click. The England-in-wartime setting was well done (although the war was very much in the background), and the characters were unusual. However, I didn't feel much sympathy for the protagonist Josephine (why, I don't know, because she was gallantly struggling with a lot of difficulties), and the plot just felt overly complicated. Maybe I felt distaste for the theme because I shrink from novels about child abuse. Anyway, it's worth three stars because it was a good book -- just not a great one.

Set in WW2, this is a complex novel involving murder, deceit, and betrayal. It introduces Jo Fox, a woman determined to find out who her father was at all cost. Returning to the home town she was thrown out of years before, she takes the only work available to her, as assistant to the local coroner, and uses her work to help dig into her family. The murder of a girl found in a bombed-out pub seems unconnected, but gives her a chance to ask the sort of questions that might help her quest. Her boss, Bram, is torn between caring about her, fearing for her, and fury with her, as she bulldozes her way through the petty-minded obstructions put in her way by those who judge her on her birth alone.This small town is a place where victims are blamed for the crimes against them, and where anyone who tries to upset the apple cart is viewed as a bigger criminal that the murderer they expose. Even more so if the stirrer is the baseborn daughter of a trollop. Who does Jo Fox think she is?The scene setting is delightful. You can almost feel the curtains twitching, and hear the whispering stop as Jo walks into a room. Every character is drawn with skill and subtlety. I cannot wait for the next instalment.

Well written -you really get the feel of an insular, almost socially stagnant town, desperately ignoring change and hoping everything will go back to normal soon. When a known rejected child returns as an adult, some automatically apply their previous knowledge and judgment to her and are shaken when she does not fall into line, but actually gains a place that gives her some authority. How she and other social misfits interact to bring justice to those the town would rather conveniently forget makes a great story. I enjoyed it enough to read it to the end, even though it is written in a sort of film script way, which I hate and never normally finish.

Worth reading, interesting story with lots of twists. Two investigations running side by side kept you interested. I enjoyed it.