1919, one nurse, one doctor and 5 patients remain at Merewood. But the owner wants to sell the property and a series of strange and deadly incidents lead to danger for all of the residents…
Murder at Merewood Hospital is an historical murder mystery set in England after WW1.
Helen Hopgood and Samuel Bingham are the only remaining medical staff to care for 5 patients who were significantly injured during the war. Now it is time for all to relocate but the pair struggle to find suitable alternatives for their remaining patients. Extra pressure ensues when a series of pranks is intermingled with murder…
I thought the historical element of the book was researched well and the setting and premise were quite unique. In the author’s note at the end, she mentions Merewood is loosely based on Minley which is right near where I live!
The book is written in the third person to show the various experiences of all characters. I was very mistrustful of all the characters, medical and injured as well as the other Merewood residents. There were multiple layers to the plot and a mix of relationships to unpick. I had great sympathy for the hardships and fears faced by the patients, but had mixed feelings about Helen and Samuel due to their single mindedness and even selfishness. There were plenty of red herrings and misdirections which meant the mystery was well maintained until the reveal at the end.
Murder at Merewood Hospital is an enjoyable historical murder mystery.
Murder at Merewood Hospital
The patients survived the Great War only to face a new danger…
In 1916, Sister Helen Hopgood was sent with a team of nurses to care for wounded soldiers at Merewood Farm, a temporary military hospital in Hampshire.
Now the war is over, only five patients remain – and she is the only nurse. The last ward must close, and Helen is doing all she can to find new homes for the injured servicemen.
Joseph Wintringham has to sell the farm to keep Merewood Manor. But since the murder of Nurse Taplin, locals believe the place is cursed – perhaps by the doomed nurse or by the patients who perished from their war wounds.
Is the hospital haunted? Or is someone very real behind the unnatural deaths that begin on Midsummer’s Night 1919?
Can Helen discover the truth before it’s too late..?
Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. The first book in her Iris Woodmore series, Death at Crookham Hall, draws on her interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.
