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The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox

Winner of the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition

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The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox

By: Claire Gradidge
Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
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£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

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WINNER OF THE RICHARD & JUDY SEARCH FOR A BESTSELLER COMPETITION

The perfect read for fans of Sunday night drama. Foyle's War meets The Mitford Murders in this deliciously dark tale of wartime family secrets and lies in small town England.

April 1941, Romsey, England.

Josephine 'Jo' Fox hasn't set foot in Romsey in over twenty years. As an illegitimate child, her family - headed by her controlling grandfather - found her an embarrassment. Now, she wants to return to what was once her home and uncover the secret of her parentage. Who was her father and why would her mother never talk about him?

Jo arrives the day after the Luftwaffe have bombed the town. The local pub, The Cricketers' Arms, has been completely destroyed and rescue teams are searching for the remains of the seven people known to have been in the pub at the time the bomb hit. They are shocked, however, to uncover eight bodies, not seven. The eighth, unidentified, body is that of a teenage girl, who no one in the town claims to know. Who is she, how did she get there, but most importantly - who killed her?

Teaming up with local coroner and old friend, Bram Nash, Jo sets out to establish the identity of the girl and solve the riddle of her death. In doing so, she also uncovers her own personal mystery.

Everyone has secrets - some are just more deadly than others . . . Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Historical International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime
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Critic reviews

The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox was a complete delight. The story sings with authenticity and I found myself transported to 1940s Romsey from the very first page. 'Josy' is very much a woman ahead of her time and her voice brings heart, and often humour, to what is essentially a very dark mystery. Unputdownable
Jo Fox, a very modern woman in wartime England. Getting to know her was a delight. More please, Claire Gradidge
Feisty, determined, and brave - I loved Josephine ('Jo') Fox. What a debut from a marvellous new author
A terrific debut novel, which captures brilliantly the atmosphere of wartime Britain
All stars
Most relevant
It is an exceptionally well written book, which was not padded out with long boring repetative explanations. I get though a book a week but this was so captivating I finished it in just over a day. I found it engaging and intriguing from the start. This is just such an excellent book on all levels, you could just imagine this type of thing went on at that time regarding a persons worth, class structure and moral values of the past. I would highly recommend it, thought provoking read. Just hope this is just the first book of many for this writer.

GRIPPING BOOK

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I really enjoyed listening to the book. The story is interesting and the pace of book was excellent.

Great pacing to this enjoyable book

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Loved it !!! didn't want it to end, listened over 2 days couldn't put it down.

More please !!!!

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This was certainly different to a lot of stuff out there, but I think I would have enjoyed the book version more than the audio version as the narrator pronounced various words incorrectly, and I don't believe there is any excuse for that. "Intestate" came out as "interstate", and I can't even begin to excuse the way she said "amalgam". So read this one, don't listen to it. A different take on a story, and something a bit different, which can never be a bad thing.

Weird pronunciations

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Really enjoyed this book, so much so that I was plugged in every time I had a spare few minutes! Wartime whodunnit written around a woman coming home to work out who her father is after her mother dies. Likeable, believable characters and extremely well read. Plot line was good although a little predictable at points but it had a decent twist at the end so I wasn’t 100% right. Really hoping there’s going to be a sequel as I’d love to know if Jo and Bram’s relationship blossoms

Fingers crossed for a sequel!

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