Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780413502203; 9780571254149
Farrago Publishing
192 Pages
Various Prices; $.99 Amazon
May 17, 2018; Reprint
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What could be more wholesome than the Folklore Society's quarterly "revels", with dancing, a bonfire, and a quaffing bench? Well-upholstered matrons and town worthies enter most enthusiastically into the spirit. So it's unfortunate when a younger woman, the freethinking Edna Hillyard, goes missing that night.
Then the manufacturer of "Lucillite" (gives your wash lightness, brightness and whiteness), filming a promotion locally, is dismayed to find a gruesome bull's head ruining his key scene, while desecrations take place in the church, and the press begins reporting on Black Magic and a Town of Fear! Are DI Purbright and his team really battling against evil forces?
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There are a group of people in Flaxborough who consider themselves witches and warlocks (but are probably in reality just wanting to have regular orgies) under the guise of a folklore society...
When a couple of schoolboys find an abandoned vehicle with womens' clothing inside they anonymously call the police. What is discovered is that the car belongs to a missing woman and during the investigation it is discovered that this woman was the mistress of a Mr. Persimmons, who has also become missing. At first the police simply think that they have run away together, but then the body of Mr. Persimmon is discovered and a mysterious mask washes up in the river that makes DI Purbright rethink his initial conclusion...
A local reverend calls the police because there have been desecrations in his church and when they arrive they find odd things - corpses of a frog, a mouse, and what appears to be an effigy of the poor reverend. They also discover that the reverend is part of group of four men who are concerned with the seemingly satanic worshippers and trying to help those that have been affected.
But it is from an unlikely source - one of a group of women who are working for a company promoting "Lucillite" - a product that makes your wash the brightest it's ever been - that gives them the break they have been looking for and it's not too long after that, with the help of intrepid Sergeant Love, that Purbright is able to put the clues together and find the truth of the matter..
Again we visit the village of Flaxborough where this time the mysterious goings on of a group of devil worshippers is about to be discovered. It is only when a young woman disappears and the body of a man is discovered that brings things to the attention of the police, and their activities are about to be laid bare for all of England to see.
Purbright delights me. He is an intelligent man who, with the help of his faithful Sergeant Sid Love and his other officers, manages to glean bits and pieces of information and put them together in a truly impressive manner. This time out they are searching for a coven that has apparently committed murder and are brazen enough to believe they can get away with it. Unfortunately, they don't count on the resolute DI Purbright, who is as good a detective as they come.
It is indeed a pleasure reading about the investigation and how thorough Purbright's crew is; at the end he masterfully creates what is nothing more than a coordinated raid on some of them to bring out the murderer into the open, and I was truly surprised by the result. It is always satisfying to see the unexpected become the truth.
When the book was finished and everything came together nicely, the tale was absorbing and written well; my only disappointment is that the author is deceased and when I am done with the series there will be no more. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Broomsticks-Over-Flaxborough-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07BPD82PW/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2417650487
More on Colin Watson's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/
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