In Pale Battalions
Robert Goddard
Delta, Jun 2007, $12.00
ISBN: 0385339208

Six months ago, Leonora Galloway's husband died in their Somerset cottage. Now adjusting to the single life of a septuagenarian widow, Leonora crosses the Channel to visit Paris with her single daughter Penelope, who is half her age. Her son Ronald is married with responsibilities so he remains in England.

The mother and daughter travel to Thiepval Memorial to the dead and missing of the Battle of the Somme. There Leonora seeks one name amidst the 73,412 men without a grave. Her father "Hallows, Captain the Hon. John " allegedly died in this battle. However, to her shock, the commemoration of Leonora's father states he died on the 30th April, 1916, but she was born on 14th March 1917. Whereas Penelope assumes her grandmother had a wartime indiscretion, Leonora knows otherwise. She begins to explain to her daughter the deceitful, murderous side of the aristocratic family that she kept secret from her spouse and two children all these years.

This is a reprint of a terrific Robert Goddard tale that is, as always, filled with surprising suspense laden twists with a final spin that will leave the audience breathless and stunned. The storyline traverses several decades as Leonora explains her past to Penelope. Although at times sugary nostalgia slows down the overall exhilarating plot, fans of Mr. Goddard will appreciate his fine, intriguing family thriller.

Harriet Klausner