The long-term effects of World War II in England are well-described in this crime thriller. Frank Danby had no choice but to move around the country for many years. It is now 1952, and he is still suffering from war-related nightmares. He decided to leave the countryside and live in London. He found a job as a barman in the Eight Bells pub in the East End, and soon he became entangled with the owners, Dennis and Grace Stevenson. It was obvious Dennis was connected with some shady characters, and he would disappear for hours at a time. A beautiful woman, Grace provided the steady hand needed to run a pub. Author Jan Turk Petrie has written a captivating novel in Too Many Heroes: The Gripping New Post-war Crime Thriller. Frank’s past is revealed throughout the story and after a crime is committed, he becomes the prime suspect.

The plot itself is compelling and captures the reader’s attention from the first page to the last. There are many twists and turns within the story, and the ending is not what the reader expects. The author has skillfully included some facts about life post-WWII in a country whose citizens lived through bombings, rationing, and other negative effects. These are intertwined within the storyline itself, illustrating how people were affected over the next decade. The character development is also well done, as information is disclosed bit by bit. Too Many Heroes: The Gripping New Post-war Crime Thriller by Jan Turk Petrie is an exciting adventure, brimming with intriguing characters. An excellent read!

Choices – especially the difficult ones – have the power to haunt in Too Many Heroes, a gripping work of historical crime fiction by Jan Turk Petrie. The year is 1952 and it’s been seven years since the Second World War ended. Handsome Frank Danby has been traveling around England, earning a living under the radar and generally going wherever the work takes him. After his most recent stint as a farmhand, Frank sets off for London where he finds work as a barman at an East End pub called Eight Bells. The bar is owned by a couple, although Frank doesn’t meet his boss’ wife until after she returns to London, having tended to her ailing mother. When Frank finally meets Grace Stevenson, the attraction is instantaneous and he can’t help wonder how his older, overweight boss ended up with such a beautiful woman. Grace is equally smitten with Frank and before long the two become lovers. The only problem is, Dennis’s body is found some time later floating in the river and it doesn’t take long for the police to turn their sights on Frank as their prime suspect in his homicide…

Petrie’s narrative and regional dialogue effectively capture the essence of East End London. All one has to do is close one’s eyes to “see” Brighton and the beach where Frank plied his heroic efforts to save the young boy from drowning, or to imagine the squalor of post-war London as families scraped by, with the men heading to the local pub for a quick pint before facing the travails of home life. What also makes Too Many Heroes so interesting is the choices made by Petrie’s main protagonists, fueled by deep-seated beliefs and feelings gutted by war, fueled by anger and desperation. The author lays bare her characters’ souls so that we’re able to empathize, if not fully understand, their motivations for making the choices which they made. It also shows us the resilience of humans and the ability to start over again – and again, as the case may be. Too Many Heroes casts a wide net that is sure to please, both as a work of crime fiction and as historical fiction.