It is December 1913 and Detective Constable Frank Bolam has a murder to solve. The victim is found drowned in the River Wear with a vicious knife wound to his lower back. There are no witnesses and no clues.A few months later another body is found with the same vicious knife wound, followed closely by a further two murders with the victims stabbed in a similar manner. This is a clever killer. No clues are found and Bolam cannot find a way to break the deadlock in his most perplexing case.Having risen from a lowly mining family, Bolam has strong moral values and becomes totally obsessed with the killer and the devastating sadness brought to the victims’ relatives. He vows to bring the murderer to justice, whatever the cost.These are turbulent times, with the country in the middle of an attritional war. In his quest to find the murderer, Bolam follows his hunch and enlists in the army, heading for the trenches to track down a cold-blooded killer in the middle of the most mechanised slaughter the world has known.
Gary taught for over 33 years in 6 schools, leading three as head teacher. His passion for WW1 began when, with colleagues, he developed educational visits to Ypres. Now a key note speaker and educational trainer, he is co author of four successful books for teachers. He is married with two grown up children.
My personal interests??? Sport, mountaineering, football, cycling???
Passions...brilliant education for all.
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Reviews
26 reviews
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My favourite part of the novel was when Bolam survived because it was a good ending. I’ve learnt a lot about WW1 from this novel. I have learnt that Churchill isn’t a dog who sells insurance. I think that the murderer could’ve died better or differently.
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Our favourite part of the book was the ending as it had the biggest twist to it. We were tricked into thinking the killer was someone it wasn’t. It actually was Arnold Wilson who was the last person we suspected as he got hardly any mentions during the book.
We learned about a few historical people in the book like Winston Churchill.
If we had to suggest this book to someone it would be our grandads as they like historical things and things about the war.
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My favourite aspects of the novel were the main character, Bolam. I have learned more about what it was like in WW1 and I also got a lot of knowledge from ‘The Magpie’. I know more about the characters in the book like Winston Churchill and knowledge of WW1.
I would recommend this novel to a historian because they would find it interesting and might even like it because it’s interesting. I think this book had a great twist at the ending, making us think that Bolam had been executed, but he hadn’t.
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My favourite aspect of the novel was the murder mystery because it was interesting to find out who the murderer was. What I got out of reading the book was how a murder mystery book works.
I have learnt about people who lived in the past like Winston Churchill. I would recommend it to my sister. I think that the book dragged on for a little too long.
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I found the novel really interesting and I loved all the twists and turns they are really good. I love all the characters and the way the story is described and where the murders are set and then the war which is really good because I loved learning about the things they used and the countries that fought.
My favourite aspects of the novels were learning about Bolam’s life and the ending because it created a suspicious atmosphere and it makes the reader want to read more. I have learnt all about the war and who John Mcrae is and I have learnt all about the weapons used. I would recommend this book to all students or adults/teachers. I think everyone would enjoy it because it has a mix of genres and people would enjoy it and learning about the war would be very interesting.
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I have learned new words and Knowledge of World War 1 out of reading ‘The Magpie’. I would recommend this book to someone who’s interested in world war 1. My favorite part was when he was telling us about his teacher and the schools he taught in and when he showed us the video of him in the Spitfire. I learned to never give up on my writing and to ‘write what I know’ and to always read because it has a lot of benefits. I learned that he had a mean teacher that didn’t inspire him but now he was successful. I liked the poetry session because I liked when he gave us ideas so then I had good examples.
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-I have learnt new words and World War 1 knowledge out of reading ‘The Magpie’.
-I would recommend this book to someone who’s interested in world war 1
-My favourite part was when he was telling us about his teacher and the schools he taught in and when he showed us the video of him in the Spitfire.
-I learnt to never give up in my writing and to ‘write what I know’ and to always read because it has a lot of benefits.
-I learnt that he had a mean teacher that didn’t inspire him but now he was successful.
-I liked the poetry session because I liked when he gave us ideas so then I had good examples.
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Favourite part was when we found out who the murderer was and finding out that the murderer died. Also when we found out that Frank Bolam dies at 101.
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