The Guardian Stones - Tapa blanda

There is nothing of the standard mystery novel here. Very good....The English village of Noddweir has done its part, even if reluctantly, in accepting children from the big cities suffering through the blitz of German airplanes in the summer of 1941. These children do not always settle easily into the fabric of a small isolated village, so different from their city homes. The problems begin with mischief which the residents of the village lay firmly at the feet of the mischievous children who have been billeted in the village. Unfortunately, a local young girl disappears, then non-resident children begin to go missing. Have they run away or has something more sinister happened? When the pranks escalate to real damage and danger the villagers have no idea what could be happening in their isolated community overlooked by the mysterious Guardian Stones on the hilltop....This novel is categorized by the publisher as British, historical, mystical mystery. I would like to add horror to that list. The tension in this story builds ever so slowly so that you get the full impact of the local superstitions as well as the privations of daily living in England in June of 1941. Small rural villages might not have been quite as hard hit by the food shortages and rationing because they had more opportunity to grow their own food, but life was still harsh and people were extremely wary of any stranger suddenly appearing in their midst. The main character in this novel is a recently widowed retired professor from the United States who has come to study the Guardian Stones. The official police officer of the village has gone to fight in the war and his replacement is definitely in need of instruction in how to investigate any kind of case, never mind something as serious as the cases which confront him here. There is a lot of unease built into this novel and you are definitely not going to be reading a standard mystery. There is nothing standard about this at all. This is the first novel featuring this character and I can't find any information that indicates it will become a series. Probably best as a stand-alone anyway.

...overall, the novel rates high marks for well-paced, page-turning storytelling, unsettling darkness, and all-too-human realism.

1941 Britain: Children are vanishing from the village. Is it the powers of an ancient stone circle at work, or a modern predator?

In mid-1941, children evacuated to the remote Shropshire village of Noddweir to escape the Blitz begin to vanish. It was not uncommon for city children faced with rural rigors to run away. But when retired American professor Edwin Carpenter, pursuing his study of standing stones, visits the village and discovers bloody clothing in the forest, it is clear there is a more sinister explanation.

The village constable is away on military duty so the investigation falls to his daughter Grace. Some villagers see the hand of German infiltrators bent on terror. The superstitious, mindful of the prehistoric stone circle gazing down on Noddweir, are convinced malevolent supernatural powers are at work. And Edwin, determined to help Grace find whatever predator is in play, runs into widespread resentment over America's refusal to enter the war.

This atmospheric mystery will appeal to readers of Rennie Airth, Maureen Jennings, and both Ann Cleeves and Ann Granger.