As Anne Perry's fourth book about the Reavley family begins, the year is 1917 and the memory of peace is fading, replaced by an unrelenting war that isn't about to stop.

For Joseph Reavley, it's been a long, unrelenting four years. He has tried to bring comfort to those men suffering on the front lines, and coping with his own memories and inner demons, but he's also starting to give up hope himself. Nearly all of the men that he has known since childhood have been killed or maimed during the fighting, and only the knowledge of the mysterious person known as the Peacemaker is what keeps him from giving up entirely. For the Peacemaker was the person responsible for the death of his parents, on the eve of when the war started in 1914, and the question of just who this person is has haunted him ever since.

So too are Joseph's other siblings, his brother Matthew, an intellegence officer working in London who is trying to discover the Peacemaker, and Judith, who is driving an ambulance to bring aid to the men at the front. All three of them are showing the strains of near constant stress.

When Joseph is caught up in a conspiracy, he's put in the moral quandary of having to decide to do the right thing and what common sense tells him. A young, idiotic officer has been murdered in no-man's-land after causing the death of several men under his command. Unfortunately, the officer, Howard Northrup, had a powerful general as a father, and the general is determined to see that everyone involved is executed for the deed. What makes it all difficult is that one of the men charged with the murder is a respected and well-liked surgeon, Dr. Cavan, who has shown unusual bravery in combat, and is to be awarded the Victoria Cross, an award for extreme courage.

Things get much worse when some of the men escape, and Joseph tries for a desparate measure to bring them back to face trial. For he knows that if he fails, it will be Judith who faces the ultimate price...

While I did find the plot of this one interesting, the entire atmosphere of the novel is so bleak that it nearly caused me to stop reading the entire series, and just give up on it. However, since I had already waded through the first three books, it seemed rather silly to give up at this point. While the story has plenty of plot to chew over, I found parts of it rather difficult -- the ending felt very contrived, and while there is a resolution (there always is in a murder mystery), it felt rather tacked on.

Where this works is in the descriptions of life on the Western Front. It's shown in all of the misery, heartache and failure, with occansional moments of dark humour to lighten things a little. Sadly, it's not quite enough with this one. While we can certainly understand Joseph's own thoughts, and desires for venegeance, there is very little change in the novel. Of the three main characters -- Judith, Joseph and Matthew -- no one has changed in this novel, and while I could feel a great deal of sympathy for them, it was hard to really connect with them.

Of the good parts, the most interesting was Joseph's riding with an observer in an aeroplane and getting a taste of aerial combat (the opponent is a little much, however), and the observations of life on the other side of the German lines. While this added some much needed colour to the story, it really wasn't enough to save this story either. Most disappointing was that nothing new is revealed about the Peacemaker -- once again Perry cheats the reader and we're left wondering just who this person is.

Still, I am going to persist with this series, and have the fifth and final volume in my stack of to-be-read books. While I have enjoyed the series very much, the tone is very dark and uncomfortable to take in all the time. My suggestion would be to have something cheery and light to read after this one. Otherwise, it's enough to cause a serious case of depression.

Three and a half stars, rounded up to barely four. Somewhat recommended if you've read the earlier books in the series.

The World War One/The Reavley Novels:
No Graves as Yet
Shoulder the Sky
Angels in the Gloom
At Some Disputed Barricade
We Shall Not Sleep

At Some Disputed Barricade
Anne Perry
2007; Ballantine Books
ISBN 978-0-345-45659-5


Recommended: Yes