Summer 1942. The world has been at war for three long and desperate years. In the remote English village of Little Buffenden, the Redfern family's house and farmland has been requisitioned by the War Office as a new airfield for the American Air Force.
The village's Air Raid Warden, twenty something Poppy Redfern, spends her nights patrolling the village and her days writing a novel of passion. It is a far cry from the experience of the other young women in town: within days, two of the village's prettiest girls are dating American airmen and Little Buffenden considers the "Friendly Invasion" to be a success.
But less than a week later, Doreen Newcombe, the baker's daughter; and the popular Ivy Wantage are both found dead. Poppy realizes that her community has been divided by murder, and the mistrust and suspicion of their new American neighbors threatens to tear this town, already grappling with the horrors of war, apart. Poppy decides to start her own investigation, but she soon unearths some unfortunate secrets and long-held grudges. She will have no choice but to lay a trap for a killer so perilously close to home, she might very well become the next victim....
What a wonderful start to a new series!
Poppy Redfern has been in London training as an ARP Warden, she arrives back in Little Buffenden to find her family home has been requisitioned and is now home to a large number of American airmen, the young ladies of the village are thrilled and even Poppy finds herself being squired around by an American by the name of Griff O'Neal, but the detente between the British and the Americans is put under strain when first one, then another village young woman is killed ... killed by an American by all accounts. Poppy and Griff however think that it isn't that cut and dried and so they start to try and piece together what happened, only to have another young woman attacked (not killed luckily!) and a wedge being driven between Poppy and Griff.
Can they figure out what is going on, and patch together their friendship (and more) or will the Buffenden Strangler strike close to home?
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