I had heard a lot of good things about the novels by Madalyn Morgan and recently I had the opportunity to purchase one. I chose There is no Going Home.
The Blurb
London, 1958, Ena recognises a woman who she exposed as a spy in WW2. Ena’s husband, Henry, an agent with MI5, argues that it cannot be the woman because they went to her funeral twelve years before.
Ena, now head of the Home Office cold case department, starts an investigation. There are no files. It is as if the woman never existed. Suddenly colleagues who are helping Ena with the case mysteriously die… and Ena herself is almost killed in a hit-and-run.
The case breaks when Ena finds important documents from 1936 Berlin that prove not only did the spy exist, but someone above suspicion who worked with her then, still works with her now.
Fearing for her life, there is only one person Ena can trust… or can she?
The Review
There is no Home is a Bletchley Park Mystery set in the late 1950s but works perfectly as a standalone novel. The main character, Ena works on cold cases for the Home Office while her husband Henry works for MI5.
The story starts when Ena spots a former colleague, Frieda Voigt, who she believed had died twelve years earlier. This begins the twists and turns of a gripping tale that takes the reader from the centre of London to the south coast and from 1958 back in time to before World War II.
Ena and her team investigate the files that deal with Frieda and her brother Walter. However, this puts Ena in grave danger. She is followed, the victim of attempted murder and all of this get to her so much that she needs time away, from her home and from Henry so she goes to stay with her friend on the south coast.
There she is able to relax, enjoy the sea air and go out to enjoy herself. When she comes home, she feels better being with Henry until one of her team dies and leaves her information that entirely changes her view of the papers in from of her.
This is a stunning book containing vivid description of the times and the places in which the action takes place. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. I think it would be an excellent novel for a book group to read.
The Author
Madalyn Morgan was an actress for more than thirty years working in repertory theatre, the West End, film and television.
Madalyn was brought up in a busy working-class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. She was Christened Madalyn Smith, the name she chose when she joined the actors union, Equity. Unfortunately, there was already an actress with that name, so with seconds to decide on another name Madalyn chose Morgan from a rum bottle. "The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many characters to study and accents learn." At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at East 15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.
In 1990, Madalyn gave up acting for love and love gave her up in 2000. Rather than start again in the acting business, Madalyn became a radio presenter, taught herself to touch type, completed a two-year creative writing course with The Writer's Bureau, and wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. After living in London for thirty-six years she has returned to Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write. And she is loving it.
Madalyn is currently writing her eighth novel.
The Links
Madalyn Morgan's Blog: https://madalynmorgan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ActScribblerDJ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madalyn.morgan1