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Loading... The Case of the Demented Spiv (1949)by George Bellairs
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I had no idea what a 'spiv' was though it was clear that it was a derogatory term. Turns out it meant a Jewish person. As becomes clear early on (so this isn't a spoiler), the Jew has nothing to do with the case. I can only suspect that the publisher wanted a provocative title to boost sales :( ( ) An enjoyable classic British detective story of the era of Allingham and Sayers. The Spiv of the title discovers a murdered man at a cotton mill and the circumstances send him off his head. When the local police fail to solve the crime, Inspector Littlejohn is called in to sift through the lies and secrets and hidden conspiracies. It's a good read, with well-drawn characters and good descriptive scene setting. I found the Kindle production a bit odd. Having received the book via email, I wanted to see the title page and find out whether it was written by someone who was contemporary with the world he described, or by a twenty-first century author writing a "historical" crime novel. There was no title page. At least, I thought so. I found it at the end of the book, when I had finished reading it. Why? no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesInspector Littlejohn (15)
When a petty hoodlum encounters murder most foul, Inspector Littlejohn must uncover the dark secrets of a sleepy English village in this classic mystery.It's a quiet night at the Oddfellow's Arms until a stranger walks in. He looks like your average, untrustworthy, street corner spiv. But when he starts ranting to anyone who will listen about a dead body at Fennings' Mill, he seems more like a raving lunatic. When local police investigate the mad-man's tale, they find a grimly peculiar corpse: the face is smeared with theatrical makeup and a false mustache is pasted neatly over the lip. Once reporters descend on the tiny village, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Littlejohn to assist the investigation. But he quickly discovers that more than a few residents are telling lies, and the victim's costume conceals a truly perplexing case. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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