The Sussex Downs Murder: A British Library Crime Classic
John Bude
Poisoned Pen, May 5 2015, $14.95
ISBN 9781464203718
John and William Rother reside on their family
farm Chalklands in Sussex Downs. Besides
working the land, the siblings also operate kilns that convert chalk into
quicklime. The older brother John drives
away on vacation leaving behind William with his new wife Janet.
However, instead of returning home, John
vanishes. His abandoned car is found
several miles from the farm, but headed in the wrong direction and inside is blood. Additionally the missing driver apparently
used eight times the amount of petro needed to drive from his home to where his
vehicle was located. Superintendent
William Meredith (see The Lake District Murder and The Cornish Coast Murder) leads
the missing person’s investigation into what he thinks is a murder without a
body. Not
long after Meredith begins his inquiry, accompanied by an enthusiastically
grateful writer Aldous Barnet. Bones are found in the Chalklands’
quicklime.
The third Meredith British police procedural is a
delightful Depression Era reprint. With
a very vivid setting, Meredith owns the leisurely-paced storyline as he
diligently works his inquiry in spite of frustrating seemingly promising clues
proving false. Though Barnet at times
comes across as a groupie, he provides the audience with insight into the
Superintendent, the case and the era. The Sussex Downs Murder is a twisting whodunit.
Harriet Klausner
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