9781788420143_

Tuesday nights have suddenly turned quite ridiculously noisy in the country town of Chalmsbury, where the good folk are outraged at having their rest disturbed.

It begins with a drinking fountain being blown to smithereens - next the statue of a local worthy loses his head, and the following week a giant glass eye is exploded. Despite the soft-soled sleuthing of cub reporter Len Leaper, the crime spate grows alarming.

Sheer vandalism is bad enough, but when a life is lost the amiable Inspector Purbright, called in from nearby Flaxborough to assist in enquiries, finds he must delve deep into the seamier side of this quiet towns goings on.

Witty and a little wicked, Colin Watsons tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay.

What people are saying about the Flaxborough series:

Colin Watson wrote the best English detective stories ever. They work beautifully as whodunnits but its really the world he creates and populates ... and the quality of the writing which makes these stories utterly superior.

The Flaxborough Chronicles are satires on the underbelly of English provincial life, very well observed, very funny and witty, written with an apt turn of phrase ... A complete delight.

If you have never read Colin Watson - start now. And savour the whole series.

Light-hearted, well written, wickedly observed and very funny - the Flaxborough books are a joy. Highly recommended.

How English can you get? Watsons wry humour, dotty characters, baddies who are never too bad, plots that make a sort of sense. Should I end up on a desert island Colin Watsons books are the ones Id want with me.

A classic of English fiction... Yes, it is a crime novel, but it is so much more. Wonderful use of language, wry yet sharp humour and a delight from beginning to end.

Colin Watson threads some serious commentary and not a little sadness and tragedy within his usual excellent satire on small town morality and eccentricities.

Re-reading it now, I am struck by just how many laugh-out-loud moments it contains. A beautifully written book.

As always, hypocricy and skulduggery are rife, and the good do not necessarily emerge triumphant. Set aside plenty of time to read this book - you wont want to put it down once youve started it!

If you enjoy classic mysteries with no graphic violence and marvellously well drawn characters then give the Flaxborough series a try - you will not be disappointed.

Editorial reviews:

Watson has an unforgivably sharp eye for the ridiculous. New York Times

Flaxborough is Colin Watsons quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice ... Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid. Daily Telegraph

Arguably the best of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce ... Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot. Time Out

A great lark, full of preposterous situations and pokerfaced wit. Cecil Day-Lewis

One of the best. As always with Watson, the writing is sharp and stylish and wickedly funny! Literary Review

The rarest of comic crime writers, one with the gift of originality. Julian Symons

Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings. Sunday Times

...(*_*)9781788420143_

Bump in the Night

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