Under A Lightning Sky: The Inspiration

It was while researching the Sarah Gillespie espionage series, that I came across a fascinating book on crime in Britain during World War 2, The Secret History of the Blitz [Joshua Levine; ISBN: 978-1-4711-3102-8]. It’s a fascinating read, but one story in particular caught my eye: The Dobkin Murder.

The Dobkin marriage was a troubled one from the very beginning. Within days of their arranaged marriage, Rachel Dobkin threatened suicide. Harry Dobkin walked out and joined Cunard (the shipping company) as a steward, sailing off to New York. However, when he eventually returned, Rachel had given birth to a son. Harry was summoned for wife desertion and made to pay maintenance, but he scarpered back to sea within weeks. Rachel’s family even paid him money to return but he soon disappeared off again. This pattern continued throughout their marriage.

Then in April 1941, the couple met in London to ‘make peace’. Harry was now a firewatcher for a business in Kennington. According to Harry, Rachel left the cafe on Kingsland Road in Hackney after their chat and caught a bus home. However, Rachel never showed up and was reported missing by her sister soon after. The family told police that Rachel had gone to meet Harry, but they were concerned for her safety because of Harry’s past violence. When police checked their records, they found many instances of domestic assault.

Five days after Rachel’s disappearance there was a fire in the blitzed ruins of the Baptist church next to where Harry worked. Harry did not report the fire and when questioned he said, rather strangely, that he had not caused the fire. Some days later, he wrote to the police volunteering his movements after Rachel’s disappearance. This was also odd as he was denying guilt even before it had been suggested. However, without a body, the police case went cold and Rachel was deemed merely missing.

Over a year later, a demolition team cleared the debris from the site of the Baptist church. However, on lifting some paving stones, a worker found a decapitated body. The lower arms and legs were also missing, it was partly burned and there was no identifying facial tissue. Initially, it was assumed the body was a victim of the bombing.

The remains were taken to Southwark Mortuary, and then to the forensic lab at Guy’s Hospital where it was examined by the famous pathologist Dr Keith Simpson. He immediately spotted that the body was not a Blitz victim as he found evidence of strangulation. The remains were covered in lime, but the killer had used the wrong sort of lime, thinking it would speed up the decomposition of the body; in fact what he used had preserved it. Simpson was able to estimate that she had died twelve to eighteen months earlier. When police checked their records the description they had of the body (height, age, gender, and dental records) strongly matched the description they had of the missing Rachel Dobkin.

Harry was arrested and charged, and his trial at the Old Bailey was a sensation. Dobkin was considered a cruel and callous killer, attempting to conceal his crime amid the chaos of the Blitz. In the end, it only took twenty minutes for the jury to find Harry guilty. He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison in January 1943.

The use of the Blitz to cover a crime really intrigued me. Under A Lightning Sky is not a re-telling of the famous Dobkin case, but the murderer does use the German bombing of London to hide their actions. What is initially assumed to be an unfortunate woman, caught out in her kitchen during a bombing raid, is subsequently revealed to be a murder victim. Luckily, an eagle-eyed pathologist discovers the truth and soon DI Jamie Barton, New Scotland Yard, is on the case. With the help of his DS, Bill Lyle, and the victim’s sister, Penny, Barton does his best to solve the murder. But with few clues and a compromised crime scene, the odds are stacked against him.

Under A Lightning Sky will be published on July 4th by Avon Books UK, and will be available in ebook, paperback and audio in all good bookshops and online.

Buy Link: https://MyBook.to/UALSky