I was sorry to find this last visit to the Brogan family was rather laboured so I enjoyed it much less than its predecessors. The central mystery was hinted at over and over again, despite having been introduced in earlier books and probably guessed by any astute reader before 'A Ration Book Victory' was published. I kept reading but found myself becoming irritated by the repetitions and hyper-aware of mistakes in the chronology. And by the tunnel vision of Mena, who sees faults in others but not in herself.
It was nice to see romantic entanglements resolved, men returning from wartime service, new housing and medical care in the offing, new career opportunities for the family and the emergency services returning to a peacetime footing. It was less pleasant to notice how characters are shown to be so blatantly good or evil, with the sole exception of Billy who is able to mature and change. More nuance would have been welcome.
It was nice to see romantic entanglements resolved, men returning from wartime service, new housing and medical care in the offing, new career opportunities for the family and the emergency services returning to a peacetime footing. It was less pleasant to notice how characters are shown to be so blatantly good or evil, with the sole exception of Billy who is able to mature and change. More nuance would have been welcome.