1950 England - Rationing, fractured lives, inadequate housing - Inspector Ryga's World

I choose the starting point for my new mystery series as 1950 because it is a fascinating time. An era caught between the aftermath of the war and the beginning of the cultural and social revolution of the ‘swinging sixties’. Memories of the war are very strong, and the fear of more world conflicts haunt people. The Korean War is in progress and National Service has been extended. All around is the legacy of the war with bombsites and rubble, bombed out buildings and houses, abandoned military bases in the country and overgrown pillboxes and batteries littering the coast.

 

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 With the housing shortages caused by the bombing many are living in privately rented dinghy cramped bedsits and poor quality houses with little privacy, comfort and warmth. Or in prefabs, railway carriages, houseboats, or huts. The housing boom and erection of new towns and cities has yet to materialise.

Rationing of some goods is still in operation namely sweets and meat. There are severe shortages of many consumer products, ‘make-do-and-mend’ carries on as does the black market.

And there are many fractured lives – widows and widowers, mothers and fathers who have lost sons and daughters, people maimed and scarred both physically and emotionally. Others, who after experiencing the adrenalin rush of combat and a varied and exciting life, finding it hard to adjust, some seek ways to cope through alcohol, crime, and substance abuse.

Behind the counter pouring a light ale - copyright Pauline Rowson

Many women who worked in the war are now back at home, some pleased to be, others very much less so. They’re not expected to have careers, but jobs to tide them over before they marry and have children.

After the war came the nationalisation of the coal mines, the railways, the Bank of England and the iron and steel industry. The creation of the free National Health Service has improved the quality of medical care, especially for the elderly, women and the poor.

Coalminers 1950 Lancashire Telegraph

Abortions are illegal, so back street practitioners flourish. There is a social stigma attached to illegitimacy, divorce is not acceptable in many circles. Homosexuality is illegal. Capital punishment is still in operation.

Policing in the 1950s is also vastly different, no mobile phones, no dashing about and no computers so it was extremely interesting to research and write from both the social and the police point of view.

1950 then, and the ensuing decade, is an interesting and fascinating era to set down my new detective, Inspector Alun Ryga.

What are your memories of the 1950s?

Death in the Cove, an Inspector Alun Ryga 1950 crime novel

'A great read and one I recommend to any crime fans.' BH Living Magazine

Newly promoted at Scotland Yard, Ryga is on his first solo investigation outside of London, he has to solve the mystery of why a man in a pin-striped suit is found murdered in an isolated cove on the Island of Portland in Dorset.

"Ryga studied the face of the dead man with interest. Death no longer had the power to shock him. He’d seen too much of it. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel sorrow, pity, anger or despair, or sometimes all four emotions and in such a swift succession that they became one. This time he felt none of these, only professional curiosity.”

Available in paperback, as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle and Kobo and also as an audio book, narrated by Jonathan Rhodes and published by B7 Media.  Download the audio book

Atmopsheric, intriguing 1950 set mystery DEATH IN THE COVE out now

Death in the Cove, mystery by Pauline Rowson - Don't miss this first book in what is sure to be a first class series

What takes Inspector Ryga to the Isle of Portland in DEATH IN THE COVE mystery by Pauline Rowson

DEATH IN THE COVE is set in 1950 England, a country still reeling from the aftermath of war with austerity and rationing biting hard. Newly promoted, Inspector Ryga from Scotland Yard, is on his first solo investigation outside of London, to solve the mystery of why a man in a pin-striped suit is found murdered in Church Ope Covee on the Island of Portland in Dorset.

Church Ope Cove in the 1950s featured in mystery, DEATH IN THE COVE

Church Ope Cove, Portland, Dorset 2019

 'Why is it called Church Ope Cove and not hope cove?’ Ryga asked, breaking the silence. ‘Was the H left off by mistake centuries ago?’
‘Ope is local dialect for an opening in the cliff that leads down to the water’s edge. The cove was famous for smugglers in the last century.’ Sergeant Daniels answered.
‘Was?’
‘Maybe still is,’ Daniels corrected, flashing him a glance and narrowly avoiding hitting a cyclist. ‘Perhaps that’s why the body has ended up there. He doesn’t look much like a smuggler though, not if you expect them to be dressed in woollen pullovers and patched grubby trousers, as in old books and photos.’ He smiled. ‘So maybe they’ve become more fashion-conscious. And thieves and crooks come in all guises, as you’d know all too well, sir.’
Ryga did. While working for the Thames River Police he’d been called upon to assist the Port of London in helping to uncover two highly notable and profitable drug smuggling rings. It had been because of his background in the merchant navy, his knowledge of ships, their loading and unloading operations and their crew mentality that he’d been asked to assist. The success of the operations had catapulted him from the river police into the Metropolitan Police and into the Criminal Investigations Department of Scotland Yard with such breath-taking speed that he had hardly realized what was happening. Now he was being called upon to once again utilize his knowledge of the sea to try and discover why a man dressed in a pinstriped suit had been stabbed in the neck and ended up dead on the beach of a small cove on Portland on the Dorset coast.

DEATH IN THE COVE is published in paperback, ebook, Amazon Kindle, Kobo.

It is also available as an audio book published by B7 Media and narrated by Jonathan Rhodes.

For more on the history of Portland visit https://www.portlandhistory.co.uk/

DEATH IN THE COVE 1950 set mystery by Pauline Rowson " Pure detection mixed with a little bit of history"

The Island of Portland, Dorset the setting for mystery DEATH IN THE COVE by Pauline Rowson

DEATH IN THE COVE is set in 1950 England, a country still reeling from the aftermath of war with austerity and rationing biting hard. Newly promoted Inspector, Ryga from Scotland Yard, is on his first solo investigation outside of London, to solve the mystery of why a man in a pin-striped suit is found murdered in an isolated cove on the Island of Portland in Dorset.

So why the Island of Portland?

I first visited the Island of Portland in Dorset (4 miles long by 1.7 miles wide, jutting out into the English Channel on the South Coast of England) while researching for one of my Art Marvik, mystery thrillers and fell in love with it. It’s stunning and rugged coastal path, its quarry scarred landscape and hidden coves both inspired and captivated me.

I also have a bit of a thing about islands, after all I live on one (Hayling Island) and was born on one (Portsmouth) albeit both with land access. But then Portland connects with the mainland of Weymouth by road and in 1950 also by rail and ferry.

Portland Island, Dorset the setting for mystery novel DEATH IN THE COVE

Looking across Chesil Bank to Weymouth from Portland

In the 1950s the famous stone quarries on Portland Island were still operating. The white Portland stone had been used on the construction of many renowned buildings, St Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace among them, as well as in the building of the large breakwaters arching into the sea protecting Portland Harbour and the naval dockyard the latter also still in operation in 1950.

 Portland Island Quarry landscape in mystery DEATH IN THE COVE

There was also railway line in 1950 on to the island. The station closed to passengers in 1952, although regular freight kept the line in use until 1965. The platforms and canopies survived until the mid-1970s when they were demolished.

Portland Lighthouse which Inspector Alun Ryga visits in DEATH IN THE COVE

Portland also has a remarkable lighthouse out on Portland Bill a rather windswept place.  Portland Bill (the lighthouse) became a popular tourist destination after the first tarred road was laid in 1922 and during the 1930s a car park was also laid, while beach huts and cafes began to appear. Visitors to the lighthouse were welcomed, and in DEATH IN THE COVE Inspector Ryga visits the lighthouse where the head lighthouse keeper takes him up the lantern room.

He turned on to the quiet road for Portland Bill. The small fields lay around him. The day had clouded over a little and the wind was getting stronger. It wasn’t long before the red and white lighthouse loomed in front of him. Judging by the number of cars in the car park it was popular with the tourists and to the left of it was a café and beach huts. He hadn’t thought that he’d be competing with tourists for the attention of the lighthouse keeper, but on enquiring he discovered there were three of them, and after declaring who he was he was soon directed to the head lighthouse keeper, a grey-haired man with a keen, weathered face and lean body in his early fifties, who introduced himself as Ivor Palmer.‘If you’re fit how about climbing to the top?’ Palmer said, with, Ryga thought, a gleam of challenge in his hazel eyes. ‘It’s only a hundred and fifty-three steps.’Ryga eagerly agreed. The view alone would be worth the exercise. He received a running commentary on the way up the spiral staircase.

Now the quarries have ceased to operate, the railway is no more, the naval base has gone, the community is pared down but the prison, lighthouse and Church Ope Cove where the body of a man in a pinstriped suit is found are still there along with a splendid round the island coastal walk if you’re up for it.

DEATH IN THE COVE is published in paperback, ebook, Amazon Kindle, Kobo.

It is also available as an audio book published by B7 Media and narrated by Jonathan Rhodes.

For more on the history of Portland visit https://www.portlandhistory.co.uk/

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Step back into 1950 England and investigate the mystery of the man in the pin striped suit with Inspector Ryga

Inspector Alun Ryga in DEATH IN THE COVE now available as an audio book published by B7 Media, the intriguing 1950s set mystery.

England 1950, a country still struggling to come to terms with peace in the grip of austerity and rationing. When the body of a man wearing a pinstriped suit is found in a secluded bay on Portland Island, Dorset, Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Alun Ryga is sent to investigate..

Listen to an extract from Death in the Cove