CLASSIC CRIME
MR BOWLING BUYS A NEWSPAPER by Donald Henderson
(Collins Crime £9.99, 208 pp) Adrift in wartime London, Mr Bowling (we never learn his first name) is disillusioned with life — both his own and others.
His self-cure is to bump off a few people — the boring, useless or just plain nasty — in the expectation that the authorities will arrange for his own demise by judicial means.
this bizarre but supposedly foolproof plan goes awry when, by luck and ill judgement, Mr Bowling gets away with one murder after another. Nobody believes such a sweet-tempered and considerate gentleman could have any evil intent.
When his crimes do eventually catch up with him, it’s in a way he could never have anticipated.
A black comedy thriller, this is all the more readable for the creepy portrayal of blacked-out London during the Blitz.
THE GRAVEDIGGERS’ BREAD by Frederic Dard
(Vertigo £7.99, 160 pp) tHErE is nothing cosy about frederic dard. His novels are harrowing but still weirdly compulsive. Here we meet Blaise delange, an out- of- work salesman ready to take on any job that comes his way.
But, desperate as he is, the chance of a role as an undertaker’s assistant, persuading the bereaved to spend more than they can afford, doesn’t appeal until he sees the young wife of his prospective employer. His obsession with a woman who has a violent husband, and a lover who depends on her handouts, sets off a cycle of intrigue and deception, which crosses from crime to sheer horror.
dard is one of those writers whose moments of tension are so acute as to make the reader almost shout out for the story to reach its climax. this tale of love and hate will leave you gasping.
EXCELLENT INTENTIONS by Richard Hull
(British Library £8.99, 240 pp) riCH, arrogant and mendacious, Henry Cargate is the type of businessman who gives capitalism a bad name.
When he takes a pinch from his snuff box and discovers too late that it is pure cyanide, there is no one to mourn him.
But with a case to solve, inspector fenby has to put aside personal feelings in pursuit of a killer lauded as a public benefactor; likewise the prosecuting counsel when the accused stands in the dock.
it is via these two upholders of the law that we get to know the suspects and the means by which the poison was administered.
the identity of the accused is hidden until the final chapter, when we sit on the jury to consider our verdict — no easy decision.
richard Hull made his name in the thirties when authors were hot in search of variations on the mystery format. With this, he succeeded magnificently.