I have read many of Ben Elton's books but I was not prepared for the intensity of this volume, or the lack of humour normally associated with his writing. The cover could have been the closing scene of Blackadder IV, but there is little to amuse the reader in this volume. Instead, we find a thoughtfully crafted and poignant tale of the everyday harshness and cruelty of the First World War, on and off the battlefield.

Our story revolves around Douglas Kingsley, a policeman who is branded a coward and a conscientious objector, when all he feels is that the war is wrong, and he sees no point in prolonging it by taking part. He is sent to jail and there he receives harsh treatment from his fellow inmates, and is then suddenly plucked from this environment and transported to Belgium to solve a murder. The victim of the crime is Viscount Abercrombie, an army captain, who has been shot by one of his fellow soldiers. He is somewhat of a celebrity, having written a poem that proved popular with the rank and file. But he hides a dark secret, and his appearance at places such as the Lavender Lamp Club guides the reader to his proclivities. A fleeting relationship with another soldier in London before he leaves for the front is to cause him problems, culminating in his death.

Kingsley tracks the accused and the witnesses through the mud and devastation of the battlefield in his quest to solve the murder. He shows no cowardice when he gets caught up in the fighting and the carnage that is going on all around him, and manages to tie up the loose ends to everyone's satisfaction.

Happily, order is restored to his world once he returns to England and is re-united with his wife, though life will clearly never be as before. A thoroughly enjoyable book.