Guy Cullingford (1907–2000)

Early in the novel we see a character curled up with a Father Brown mystery, and we soon see that this is no random detail, despite the absence of any clerics in lead roles. This unusual mystery, reminiscent of Angela Thirkell in its sharp observation of character and the small details of English domestic life, explores territory usually thought of as theological without short-changing the reader looking for a classic British whodunit.

A sociological study of young British men, post-war, thinly disguised as a murder mystery. School-leavers with assorted problems stemming from bad parenting and original sin are the whipping boys of the title. Misguided do-gooder ("There's no such thing as a bad boy") has his clubhouse trashed; the solution is clearly Operation Bootstrap. Main character benefits from National Service, marriage, and fatherhood. Cullingford's characterisation is sharp and her views are anything but clichéd; show more just not much of a mystery story. show less

Loyalty in many guises manifests itself in this mystery story, which the author has given a provincial Edwardian setting to suggest, perhaps, that loyalty is not what it once was. Like the other Cullingford mysteries I have read, anything but cosy.

This mystery starts with a strong idea: the murdered writer survives his violent death as a ghost and goes on commenting the subsequent action. As it turns out everybody had good reason to hate and murder him. Initially, the strong idea and good writing carries the novel, but about half-way through the adventure loses steam and never recovers it. Sad, since this original idea deserved better.