1951 mystery; Pargeter's first mystery, and first about the Felse
family. The War has come and gone, and the heroes have got their
"thanks very much" and been thrown back to pick up what they can of
their lives; and a German displaced person, working locally, causes so
much trouble that nobody's at all surprised when his body is
discovered in a stream. But even so, suspicion leaves everyone on
edge. (Later republished as by Ellis Peters.)
Every so often I like to reread Pargeter's contemporary
mysteries. I first met her writing in the Cadfael series, of which I
enjoyed the first few but found the rest rather samey; however, in her
modern-set stories, written before Cadfael, she shines. There's
beautiful, lyrical writing here, and there's plenty of consideration
of the real reason to try to catch a murderer even when everyone can
agree that the killing itself was a good thing: someone made that
decision on their own, they might make it again about someone else,
and nobody can trust their neighbour.
Also, of course, this is a period piece, with the real feelings of the
time: if this little ex-Nazi can carry on being a Nazi in all but
name, what was the point of the war? Can someone who's spent years
fighting alongside the Partisans really give up the casual killing and
be content as a teacher in a small town? Or did he see a poisonous
insect and decide to step on it?
We also get the Felses, George the village policeman, his wife Bunty,
and their son Dominic. Dominic's at the focus here, as he discovers
the body, and his enquiring mind wants to stay involved in spite of
his father's best efforts. As a result, George's more official
investigation is given less time in the text, which is a shame; but
this is mostly a story of people and the amateur sleuthing Dominic
does.
I thought a particular thing got mentioned at just a bit too much
length to be as innocent a background detail as it's meant to appear,
and I was right; but I have a nasty suspicious mind. This is a
splendid book, sometimes awkward and uncomfortable when dealing with
awkward and uncomfortable things, and perhaps dated in the Felses'
family dialogue, but thoroughly rewarding if you can put yourself into
something like the mindset of the era.
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