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The First Casualty

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The First Casualty

By: Ben Elton
Narrated by: Glen McCready
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About this listen

Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder.

Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle?

As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes ever more blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth.

©2005 Ben Elton (P)2009 Random House Audio Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Murder War
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Being a lover of Ben Elton's comedy this book was a first for me to a serious humanist side of Ben. I really enjoyed the story line which rarely stagnated and kept me entertained. Loved the narration by Glen McCready, truly enhanced the story and made the characters very believable. Well done Ben I lookforward to your next novel.

A partial look into british WW1 society

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Another fantastic book by Elton, if you like a good crime thriller set in world war one then this is it. brilliantly narrated and incredibly well written

fantastic

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Good enough overall story, though for me it wasn’t as good as his other work.

Not Elton’s best

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