by Edmund Crispin

So book two was a quick read and quite enjoyable. You both would probably like this cute little mystery set in present day England. Crispin’s metaphors and similes are unique and refreshing. His references to historical moments means some required research. For example:

“In the meantime he had made further arrangements about Routh’s head, and these had manifested themselves to an evening angler, a local unemployable called Don Goody who was futilely attempting to poach trout from a reach of the Burr where nothing was known to have been taken since the year of Alamein.”

Brits who know their history would immediately recognize that would be 1942, but just the name makes it sound even longer ago than that.

The vocabulary is also challenging.

One character is totally misunderstood by various employers because he loves to work. Union shops get rid of him quickly as a result. People also easily believe that he must be daft. All the characters are very richly Dickensian in development. Our hero isn’t a Miss Marple or Hercule Peirot, but he listens well and knows the right questions the detectives should be asking.

More of Crispin’s mysteries will be good for mindless days, which occur frequently now.
I’m already looking forward to next month. In the meantime I’m reading a fascinating work by Julie Drew and Bill Lyons about adult fear of teenagers and implanting fear in teens so they can be educated in an authoritarian manner. They have a great chapter on Pleasantville which must be Julie’s contribution.