Rating: 4/5
Review:
The enjoyable final instalment
This is the last of
Colin Watson’s Flaxborough mysteries and, in spite of its rather
clumsy title, it’s another very good one.
The death of
prominent Flaxborough solicitor “Rich Dick” Loughbury reveals
some odd transactions involving art works and curious behaviour by
some other local notables, which cast doubt on the suicide of a local
woman some time before. Needless to say, Inspector Purbright
investigates in his typically polite but doggedly perceptive way,
with Miss Lucilla Teatime making a very welcome appearance.
As always, the chief
pleasure of the book is Watson’s wit and his nicely barbed
observations on things like pretentious restaurants and other local
foibles. It’s perhaps not one of his very best; the plot is decent
but borrows some key ideas from Dorothy L. Sayers’s Busman’s
Honeymoon and the sharpness of the observation isn’t quite what it
sometimes has been, but it’s still a very enjoyable read. I’m
very sorry to have come to the end of this series – it has been a
delightful find for me and I can recommend all of them very warmly.
(My thanks to
Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)
No comments:
Post a Comment