Death in Captivity: A Second World War Mystery

Written by Michael Gilbert

Narrated by Gordon Griffin

A man is found dead in an escape tunnel in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp. Did he die in an accidental collapse – or was this murder? Captain Henry “Cuckoo” Goyles, master tunneller and amateur detective, takes up the case. This classic locked-room mystery with a closed circle of suspects is woven together with a thrilling story of escape from the camp, as the Second World War nears its endgame and the British prisoners prepare to flee into the Italian countryside.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soundings
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781407981215

Reviews for Death in Captivity

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Gilbert was a thoroughly competent British mystery writer, though how much I like his stories varies. I tend to prefer his legal stories such as Smallbone Deceased, which is also printed in this series. Death in Captivity is very good considered as a novel about life among British officers in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp just at the time Italy is about to be forced out of the war. Gilbert himself had similar experience and I expect the descriptions of camp life are accurate. The actual mystery begins with a unique setting -- a prisoner whom some suspect of being an enemy plant is found dead in a cave-in in a tunnel the prisoners are digging. One of the prisoners is assigned to investigate by the prisoners' internal government. Frankly, he does not make a good deal of progress, and much of what he believes turns out to be wrong. His investigation is effectively suspended when the prisoners embark on a mass escape to avoid being turned over to the Germans by the collapsing Italian prison administration. Ultimately the mystery is solved abruptly at the end in a rather unsatisfying way.