Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : HarperPerennial, 1991.
Description
In the Second World War the Blitz forces the evacuation of Government offices from London. Francis Pettigrew goes with his ministry to Marsett Bay by the sea, where the civil servants must make the best of their lodgings. A lighthearted game of 'plan the perfect murder' starts, with Pettigrew aloof from the silliness - until a real murder happens.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
I found this novel hugely enjoyable. Written in 1946 it might now seem somewhat dated, even quaint, but I found the portrayal of office relationships within a Civil Service Department frighteningly plausible.
The barrister Francis Pettigrew is uprooted from normal chambers-based lifde in London to
However, almost predictably, one of them is indeed murdered, in a manner frighteningly reminiscent of the method adopted for their imaginary plot. Meanwhile, Inspector mallett of the yard had already happened upon the scene, eager to investgiate a spat of recent breaches of security.
Investigations proceed apace, but it falls to Franci Pettigrew to resolve the interlaced strands of the story.
The characters ar perfectly drawn, the setting wholly credible, and the resolution gratifyingly weatertight. Definitely worth reading!
The barrister Francis Pettigrew is uprooted from normal chambers-based lifde in London to
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act as legal adviser to the government department regulating the manufacture, wholsesale and export of pins during war-torn Britain. This involves relocation to the remote Welsh coast where he ends up in a private residential hotel in which the majority of his fellow inmates are drawn from the same office as him. In the absence of any other cheap, accessible entertainment, and influenced by the discovery that one of their number had previously made a living as a writer of crime novels, the residents start planning an im,aginary murder and the subsequent investigation. However, almost predictably, one of them is indeed murdered, in a manner frighteningly reminiscent of the method adopted for their imaginary plot. Meanwhile, Inspector mallett of the yard had already happened upon the scene, eager to investgiate a spat of recent breaches of security.
Investigations proceed apace, but it falls to Franci Pettigrew to resolve the interlaced strands of the story.
The characters ar perfectly drawn, the setting wholly credible, and the resolution gratifyingly weatertight. Definitely worth reading!
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
Maybe even 4.5*
I found Hare’s setting in this one very amusing (a satire of WW2 British bureaucracy, it’s set in the Bureau of Pin Control and has a subplot about black market trading in pins!) and the mystery was very good. I thought that I had figured it out but not so!
I found Hare’s setting in this one very amusing (a satire of WW2 British bureaucracy, it’s set in the Bureau of Pin Control and has a subplot about black market trading in pins!) and the mystery was very good. I thought that I had figured it out but not so!
LibraryThing member leslie.98
Maybe even 4.5*
I found Hare’s setting in this one very amusing (a satire of WW2 British bureaucracy, it’s set in the Bureau of Pin Control and has a subplot about black market trading in pins!) and the mystery was very good. I thought that I had figured it out but not so!
I found Hare’s setting in this one very amusing (a satire of WW2 British bureaucracy, it’s set in the Bureau of Pin Control and has a subplot about black market trading in pins!) and the mystery was very good. I thought that I had figured it out but not so!
LibraryThing member Craftybilda
Light-hearted crime mystery, poking fun at the bureaucracy of the English public service, but very well written and good use of the English language. Published in 1950.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1946
Physical description
194 p.; 21 cm
ISBN
0060921390 / 9780060921392