Farthing (Small Change, #1)

by Jo Walton

In an alternate reality in which a group of English nobles overthrew Winston Churchill and made peace with Adolf Hitler in 1941, a murder is committed at the home of Lord and Lady Eversley, and suspicion falls on David Kahn, the Jewish husband of Lucy Eversley.

• ISBN10: 0765314215
• ISBN13: 9780765314215
• Publish Date: 8 August 2006
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 February 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 319
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

Set in 1949 after Hess negotiated a truce between Hitler and England fachism is growing in England and a typical gathering of power brokers is happening in Farthing, a country estate with a daughter who has caused ripples by marrying a Jew. When the main negotiator Sir James Thirkie is murdered with a yellow star pinned to his chest the easy suspect is Lucy's husband. The investigation alternates between Lucy and Inspector Peter Carmichael of Scotland Yard and it doesn't follow the easy route but leaves openings for sequels which I look forward to.

It reads something like a 1930's-1940's detective novel but with some changes that make it different and compelling. I liked the characters and their motivations were understandable.