Book
A Pattern of Lies
First published 2015
An explosion at the Ashton Gunpowder Mill in Kent has killed more than a hundred men and left the owning family accused of negligence or sabotage. Bess Crawford encounters the Ashtons while public hostility is hardening into violence and their son Philip faces arrest. The only witness who may know what happened is serving in France, but when Bess finds him he repeats the rumours that have already condemned the family and refuses to help.
The novel examines the pressure placed on munitions communities during the final months of the war, when industrial accidents could be interpreted as treason and grief demanded a target. Moving between Kent and the Western Front, Bess must separate evidence from collective anger before another death fixes a false account permanently in place.
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