Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780413452504; 9780571255030
Farrago Publishing
176 Pages
Various Prices; $3.99 Amazon
May 31, 2018 (Reprint)
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Flaxborough has its share of fat-cat businessmen, like the brash Councillor Henry Crispin and snobbish Arnold Hatch, proprietor of the Floradora Country Club. Their bitter rivalry is well known, so when Crispin's luxury river cruiser, the Lively Lady, is ruthlessly sunk, shortly after Hatch's night-time shenanigans had been lit up for the world to see, no one expects the feud to die away peacefully.
But there is a death, a far from peaceful one, and DI Purbright and Sergeant Love have information that it might be linked with the arrival in town of a certain Sicilian-American gentleman.
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When a concerned citizen comes to Detective Inspector Purbright with a cryptic letter that could imply almost anything, Purbright is stumped as to what is meant by the "naked nuns" about to arrive. Then the police in New York receive a letter that implies a crime is about to occur in the town of Flaxborough, England, they forward the letter onto them. DI Purbright tells Chief Constable Chubb that nothing can be done until they find the person who is going to commit the crime, and hopefully the victim also. Then Arnold Hatch receives a letter apparently written by the same person intimating that he will soon be the victim of this crime. When he takes it to Purbright, they now have the victim, but are unsure of who is going to commit the crime...
Miss Lucy Teatime, meanwhile, receives a visit from a brash American who claims that her distant relative said to look her up and ask for her help. He tells her only that a crime is going to be committed and he's trying to prevent it. While he doesn't say so, Miss Teatime is positive he is one of those "American gangsters," or at least was one at one time...
While Purbright and his policemen try and figure out what the cryptic letters mean, Henry Crispin is planning on getting even with Hatch for destroying his boat. On the night of one of Hatch's revelries at his Floradora Club, Crispin has designed a plan of revenge of his own, and he doesn't realize that it will mask a murder about to take place.
It is only when a matter of coincidence occurs in Purbright's presence that all will be made clear as to what everything means...
While this book does begin a little slow, it leads into a plan that takes time to form. The characters are introduced, and the red herrings begin. While Purbright is seeking nuns - naked or otherwise - that may have drifted into his town (for what else could the letters mean?) life goes on pretty much as it should, but with Hatch growing ever more impatient and angry as he believes his life may very well be at stake.
The clues are well hidden in this little mystery, which has been reissued from its original date yet still remains quite a gem. Anyone who has read the previous Flaxborough mysteries will recognize some of the characters from those books (they drift in and out) of which we have become fond. I do love to watch Purbright go through the motions, as it were - while his chief thinks he is unambitious, he may very well be so; but he is an intelligent man who is able to take the clues and put them together nicely.
This book is no different than any of the others I have read. I have become quite fond of DI Purbright and the others in this town; even Miss Teatime - whom I wouldn't trust any farther than I could see her - has grown on me.
When the ending comes and everything is put together it comes as a complete surprise. In fact, it is only a matter of a chance meeting that puts it all together for Purbright himself. A delightful ending to an engaging mystery. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C929JKK/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2421828305
More on Colin Watson's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/
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