Bridget Kelly is a young nursing student living in London with her family. She's eager to help with the war effort, but a mistake at work puts her nursing career in danger. She's given a way out; an offer to help care for a group of children being evacuated from London. Arriving at the train station, she discovers that all the children are under five, two are infants and the other nurse is also somehow named Bridget Kelly and doesn't seem to know anything about nursing or childcare. And the Devon coast is less serene than expected. Not only is there something odd about the other nurse, but there seems to be too many mysterious deaths in the village.

Rader-Day is one of the rare authors who clearly do the research but use what they learned so carefully, that it never feels like she is telling us what she learned. The result is a story deeply set in a place and a time that feels authentic. Bridget is a wonderful character because she fits so perfectly into this setting. She's almost invisible to others, especially those who imagine themselves her betters. Rader-Day also narrates the novel from the points of view of other characters, from that of the housekeeper, to the voice of one of the young evacuees, and makes each voice distinct. I usually like a little more oomph in my crime novels, but as a gentle historical novel about the British home front, this one was very enjoyable. ( )

Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day drove me to utter boredom resembling a death. Agatha Christie’s country house beautifully captures the fleeting children, married couple, and two nurses escaping the horrors of wartime London. Too many side stories ruin the novel: a thieving doctor, a murderous local man who lost his son in the war, a grieving mother searching for her dead son, and a group of young people gathering information for the war. Bridget Kelly, a nurse in training, gives a soldier the wrong medicine and he dies. Bridget nicknamed Bridey must find another job and jumps at the chance to play nursemaid to ten small children along with nurse Gigi. The author’s language and writing style treat the story as mundane, and this reader had to force read the remainder of the novel. ( )

Bridget Kelly, a nineteen-year-old nurse-in-training, has been dismissed from a London hospital, probably an unusual occurrence to begin with. Worse, this is April 1941, wartime, and with nurses in such short supply, you just know Bridget must have messed up horribly. In her parting words, the nurse matron has harangued Bridget for coldness, arrogance, inability to concentrate, and more besides. Whew.

But Matron has given her one last chance: to accompany a group of young children to Devon, where they’re to be evacuated for the war’s duration, presumably safe from the bombs hitting London daily. The country house that will be their billet belongs to Agatha Christie, a fact of no consequence to Bridget, who doesn’t read stories — they hit her in the gut, literally.

Rather, she’s wondering how to manage ten children, a chore that scares her, and for which she thinks she has no aptitude. Meanwhile, she’s reeling from the deaths of her mother and younger siblings from a German bomb, so the sight of any child can be dangerous for her.

When she first sets eyes on her charges-to-be at the train station, her heart sinks, because she has imagined older children, easier to care for. But Bridget has one hope, a fellow nurse to share the load — until that nurse, who claims also to be named Bridget Kelly, doesn’t seem to know the first thing about children, the human body, or caring for anyone else’s needs. For that matter, as the first Bridget discovers, few people or things she runs across are as they seem. No sooner have they arrived in Devon than she has her doubts about the house staff, the people leading the evacuation, and the local characters, whose intense suspicion of outsiders may have a darker side.

Her skepticism is often warranted, but as Matron’s criticisms ring repeatedly in her ears, you begin to wonder just what was going on there. For instance, is Bridget really arrogant? Hardly; she’s too self-effacing by half. She only seems withdrawn, because when circumstances call for intense emotion, her post-traumatic stress kicks in, manifesting itself as the aforementioned hits to the gut. And that, of course, she can’t reveal.

But that’s only for starters. As she tries to settle in, an intruder or two stalks the property, precious food supplies go missing, and, eventually, a dead body washes up on shore. Connected events, or coincidental?

Mysteries and thrillers generally go by the moniker of plot-driven, but not Death at Greenway. This one’s character all the way, and it’s masterful. You get the nurses, the staff, the neighbors, the atmosphere, the house, the PTSD, and they all move the story. Aside from Bridget and her nursing colleague, I single out the local doctor, who’s too handsome by half and sensitive to feelings but somehow off, and an artist living on the property who’s got a battleship-sized sense of entitlement.

Rader-Day peels back layer upon layer of mystery and misunderstanding. If the narrative proceeds more gradually than in other mysteries — the dead body, for instance, doesn’t show up until page 115 – the tension nevertheless keeps you riveted.

How? The author shows you Bridget beneath the skin and the fear, isolation, and resentment everyone breathes with each inhalation, which marks them and makes for potent drama. I admire that kind of storytelling, which doesn’t need a man with a gun to raise the stakes. This narrative may seem “quiet” for a mystery, to use a publishing buzzword that no two people define the same way. Gentle reader, don’t be deterred.

I’ve also never read as gripping or accurate a fictional description of post-traumatic stress, unless it was in Daniel Mason’s fine novel, The Winter Soldier — and he’s a psychiatrist. Moreover, Rader-Day captures the underside of Britain’s so-called finest hour, portraying less-than-heroic behaviors, reminiscent of Lissa Evans’s novels, though without the irony or humor. Here in Devon, they’re playing for keeps.

For those who like Agatha Christie — I don’t particularly — the setting will appeal as well. And just in case you’re thinking from what I’ve said that the mystery must take second place to the characterization and somehow muddle its way through, let me assure you that the plot goes through as many twists and turns as the seaside Devon roadways.

Death at Greenway is a fine mystery and a brilliant re-creation of the British home front, worth your time in both respects. ( )

Reminiscent of an Agatha Christie type mystery (she is in it on the fringes)but with a little more undertones of personality possibly. I really liked it for its twists and history. ( )

Wow! This was deserving of more than 5 amazing stars!! The novel is an immersive, far-reaching story of murder and revenge set at Agatha Christie's real-life country home during World War II. Author Lori Rader-Day researched facts, included the existing locations and many actual people of the time to craft a moving, engrossing murder mystery that I couldn't put down. This was a cleverly and beautifully written, well-thought out, realistically emotional, and incredibly awesome story of nurse-trainee Bridey Kelly, trying to make peace with her past in hopes of finding her place in a broken world.

Some disappointed readers were expecting a story including Agatha Christie, but be forewarned that she is barely in this novel though Rader-Day was surely influenced by her, as one of the world's best mystery novelists. I loved the multiple layers of this story, the mood of suspicion and mystery, the various characters (who was friend or foe?), the grief of loss, the dangerous secrets of war. I highly recommend this memorable novel. ( )