Blame The Dead: WWII Field Hospital Mystery

I was approached by publicist Alessandra Scarpaci via e-mail asking if I was interested in reviewing the historical mystery, Blame The Dead by Ed Ruggero.  The promotional material emphasized Ruggero's military background as a West Point graduate and an army officer.  It also mentioned women's issues and the role that women played in the military during WWII.  I realized that I hadn't read any WWII novel by an author like Ruggero. I also had never read a mystery in which the setting was a field military hospital in wartime.  So I requested a digital ARC which I received free of charge via Net Galley.

                       

Last year, I had been taken aback by the WWII novel, The Light Over London by Julia Kelly, because I had been anticipating a novel primarily about gunnery girls in London.  My review of Light Over London appeared on Flying High Reviews, my blog focusing on female protagonists, at the hyperlink I've provided. I discovered that the military content amounted to only about 10% of Kelly's book.  With Ruggero at the helm, I didn't think I would need to readjust my expectations of  Blame the Dead.

I saw a review on Goodreads that dismissed this novel because the protagonist was an ordinary member of the MP (military police).  Given the author's knowledge of the military,  I didn't think it likely that he'd made that kind of mistake.  The reviewer pointed out that the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) would be investigating.  So I hunted down the History of CID and discovered that in August of 1943, when Blame The Dead took place, criminal investigations in the U.S. Army were still the province of local MPs.  Never accuse an author of inauthenticity unless you've done the research to support your claim.  It was actually very easy to find the source I linked dealing with the CID's history.

The women in Blame the Dead were nurses. I was delighted that not all of them were content to remain victims of  physicians who abused their positions of power. The most notably strong female character was Nurse Kathleen Donnelly. She was determined, courageous and a quick thinker. She's just the sort of person you'd want with you in a crisis. 

There were a number of people committing crimes at various levels of severity in Blame the Dead. Since the main reason why I read mysteries is to see justice done, I was disturbed that one offender got away with serious crimes.  Some readers may consider this character sympathetic, but I couldn't deal with the injustice.  That was my only significant problem with this book.

I felt that Blame the Dead realistically portrayed the period, and the military hospital context.  It showed the impact of routine sexual harassment and assault on women. It also showed the impact of poor leadership, corruption and abuse of authority. The resolution was a bit too noir for me, but I thought it was well-written.