Lynton Lamb (1907–1977)

I am always interested in the phenomenon of mystery stories authored by people who normally write in other, more serious genres, or are not otherwise writers at all, but civil servants or engineers. Lamb was a visual artist, and judging by the apparently small number of LT members who have read his mysteries it was good he did not quit his day job. But I found this book, his first attempt, quite enjoyable. The local village dialect was challenging, the cricket match incomprehensible to me. Fortunately I have a slight familiarity with change-ringing. But the writing was excellent and the characters, representing the full spectrum of local village life, well-drawn. Quite Trollopian. Plot was secondary. But am looking forward to tracking down the other three novels in the series.… (meer)