In 1940, England is desperate and fearful. The threat of a German invasion is real, and many German Nationals are interned in camps across the country. One such is on Prees Heath, near the small town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, where Tom Tyler is the sole detective inspector.
When a young women is found murdered on a desolate country road, Tyler -- who has no shortage of troubles of his own -- finds himself drawn into an uneasy alliance with one of the Prees Heath internees, a psychiatrist, who claims to be an expert on the criminal mind.
"Master storyteller and screenwriter Jennings . . . launches a trilogy with this superb entry. Readers will be swept away by the sagalike tone and the characters' singular problems and traits. . . . Think the British television series Foyle's War for comparison."
—Library Journal (starred review)
"A fine mystery. . . . [DI Tom Tyler] has a vulnerable side that makes him a character whom readers will want to know better as this series continues."
—Halifax Chronicle-Herald
"Jennings's portrait of a society under threat . . . is engrossing."
—Globe and Mail
Tom Tyler . . . is just as complex and appealing as Murdoch. . . . [Season of Darkness] stacks up well against other fine and compelling literature set during the Second World War."
—Joan Barfoot, in the London Free Press