The Information Officer/Mark Mills

The Information Officer is set in Malta during its sustained bombing by the Luftwaffe.

It’s a crime thriller though the historical and location detail are impressive.  My knowledge of Malta during the war is constrained to the Malta Story starring Alec Guinness and the fact that the whole island was awarded the George Cross by George VI.

So much of this was therefore revealing particularly the tensions between the native Maltese who understandably did not appreciate being bombed to smithereens and being poorly equipped and resourced to withstand this.

Max Chadwick is the information officer who learns of a British serviceman, possibly a submariner, who has raped and murdered 3 local girls. He tasks himself with hunting down the murderer.

The novel has a louche Graham Greene atmosphere as Chadwick is involved with 2 women – one married, the other local – and there is much drinking amongst the British office class.

Malta everyday sustained more bombs in 1940-1942 than Coventry and, in two months in 1941, twice more than the London blitz.

The Maltese had to undergo severe food deprivation and there was always the possibility of Nazi invasion and British withdrawal. They are a hardy people who many centuries earlier had repulsed Suleiman the Magnificnet and his Turks.

It was Field Marshall Kesselring from nearby Sicily who organised the bombing raids of Junkers 88s. There was also terminal damage to supply convoys and aircraft conducted to Malta by the Royal Navy.

The airfield bombing was especially effective.  Eventually they hit upon the idea of pens which harboured the Hurricanes and Spitfires but within 10 minutes of arrival there were sent into the air.

Many historians attribute the eventual Allied success to the Russians and Americans. However Malta played an important role in preventing the Mediterranean falling into the hands of Axis powers.

Rommel in North Africa, a brilliant tactician but never too bothered by supply, could be harried from Malta in North Africa too.

El Alamein was a significant marker: up till then the British had not won a major engagement, after that they barely lost one.

Malta became the Allied headquarters for the invasion of Italy in 1943.  The Malta Story is quite a story.

The thriller element of this novel is well-paced and plotted. At first I  was confused by the number of characters introduced in the opening pages.  The murderer chillingly intervenes too in the narrative with his sadistic plans.

Gradually I could appreciate what was happening … and to whom it was happening.

The last chapter is a page turner.

It would make a very good film.