The Guardian Stones

November 2, 2015
During WWII, evacuee children disappear from an English village in this disturbing novel from Reed, the pseudonym of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, the authors of the John, the Lord Chamberlain series (Murder in Megara, etc.). In June 1941, retired American professor Edwin Carpenter comes to Noddweir in Shropshire to study an ancient stone circle and prepare some talks on historic British monuments, though certain locals are less than thrilled that the United States has not yet entered the war. When young Isobel "Issy" Chapman and troublemakers from Birmingham go missing, villagers point fingers at Issy's reputedly abusive father, Jack Chapman, and surly Harry Wainman, a farmer, while Special Constable Tom Green is more interested in seducing Edwin's landlady, Grace Baxter, than solving any crimes. Further complications ensue with the folk remedies and superstitions of Grace's grandmother; the sudden deaths of Green, a dog, and a town shopkeeper; and cases of arson. The violent climax may upset cozy fans.

October 1, 2015
A remote Shropshire town is beset by wartime demons even more insidious than the Third Reich. It's 1941. American widower Edwin Carpenter is retired from his job as a university professor, and he's made the arduous trip to England to study a stone circle just outside the town of Noddweir. He's corresponded with Vicar Timothy Wilson and arranged to lodge with Grace Baxter, whose father, the village constable, has gone off to war. The village is of two minds over the disappearance of Issy Chapman, the teenage daughter of the village blacksmith. On one hand, Issy is considered a troublemaker and a slut; on the other, her father is rumored to mistreat her. Quite a few children have been removed from their city homes and sent to the country for their safety, billeted among many families in and around Noddweir, and inevitably their numbers include quite a few tough troublemakers. As more children vanish, suspicion runs rife among the villagers. An outsider like Edwin is naturally high on the list of suspects. Then the ineffectual special constable sent to replace Grace's father is found murdered, and several other villagers die in suspicious circumstances as rumors of strange sightings occur. Grace's grandmother, a student of the old ways, folk cures, and magic, insists that the stone circle known as the Guardian Stones is responsible for all the horrifying events. Edwin, unpersuaded, tries to help Grace do her father's job and protect the town from whatever modern evil is plaguing it. A fascinating look at a small town mired in the past and confronting the future]with a bombshell ending.

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