CLASSIC CRIME
SLEEPING DOG by Dick Lochte (Penguin Modern Classics €14, 368pp)
A HARD-BOILED, middleaged gumshoe with time on his hands is persuaded to track down a missing dog, presumed stolen. Leo Blackworth’s client, answering to the appropriate name of Serendipity, is a stubborn teenager, savvy beyond her years, who is immune to risk and will not take no for an answer. Together, this unlikely duo embark on a chase that brings them up against a mafia-run blood-sports racket where canine and human life are equally expendable.
As the professional, Leo is not averse to taking chances, but he is no match for his headstrong partner, who is fearless against the ruthless sleazebags who threaten their lives.
Taking turns to tell their side of the story, the narrative sparkles with sharp exchanges serving as a thin disguise for mutual affection and respect. First published in 1980 as a debut novel, Sleeping Dog passes the test of time with flying colours.
THE LONG SHADOW by Celia Fremlin (Faber €11.20, 256pp)
FOLLOWING her husband’s death in a car crash, Imogen receives a telephone call accusing her of murder. That she is innocent is surely beyond doubt, except for the question of the delay in telling the police that she was the wife of the dead man, a much admired if philandering classical scholar.
Imogen finds no relief in the company of her feckless stepson and his manipulating sister who, uninvited, move into her home. An added complication is a mentally disturbed student who dotes on the memory of her over-attentive mentor.
But is the professor really dead? Imogen’s nerves begin to crack as evidence emerges of her husband as a living presence.
Skilfully interweaving mystery and menace, Fremlin keeps us on tenterhooks as Imogen fights off the madness that threatens to engulf her. How she defeats her persecutors is a triumph of creative imagination.
BIG BEN STRIKES ELEVEN by David Magarshack (British Library Crime Classics €13.99, 336pp)
FEW tears are shed when Sir Robert Boniface, a worldfamous business tycoon, fascist sympathiser and all-round nasty piece of work, is found shot dead in the back of his car. A short list of suspects is led by Matt Caldwell, a belligerent artist whose portrait of Boniface had been summarily rejected by the sitter.
Also in the running is a colleague whose wife was having an affair with Boniface. Then there is his nephew and prospective heir who had made known his hostility to his uncle’s nefarious financial dealings.
The epitome of reason and common sense, Superintendent Mooney embarks on a painstaking investigation that reveals hidden motives for a sensational murder. Rarely surfacing after its first publication in 1934, Big Ben Strikes Eleven is a satisfying mystery with the indefatigable Mooney leading us to an elusive and unexpected killer.