Tony Shelton is a cricket player with aspirations to being a top player. But he is playing it down and trying to be more bookish to impress Victoria Rawlings. He’s gone to the extent of giving up cricket, his passion, to win this girl.

Victoria Rawlings is the granddaughter of Martin Rawlings, a renowned poet. She is very bookish, extremely proud of her literary connection and very anti-cricket.

The two are engaged and for an engagement gift, Tony purchases a rare collection of Martin Rawlings poems at a very high price. Questions arise about the authenticity of the collection. It seems there are a numbers of these collections that have been found to be fakes.

To verify the authenticity, Tony seeks the expertise of well-known sellers who are considered experts on Rawlings’ work. Tony finds there is a “no love lost” attitude between these people as each feels they are the top expert in the field. Their differences don’t help Tony, and it is only worse when some turn up dead one after another.

Inspector Wrax is given the case. Wrax is a mean man who is suspicious of everyone, he bulldozes his way through the investigation with blunt questions and a focus on making an arrest.

Disappointed with Wrax’s methods and slow progress, Tony takes it upon himself to do his own investigation. He gets assistance from Victoria, John Basingstoke (a writer with a prominent scar on the right side of his face), Ruth Cleverly (a researcher and Basingstoke’s friend), and Bland (a law clerk with an extensive interest in criminology. As the group makes inroads to the mystery, good and bad, the pieces fall into place.

Bland is an interesting character who is brought in midway. A loner with quite a knowledgeable background. This is the third book in a short series. I hope to find the others to read. ( )

Why yes, yes there is a mystery novel based on the T.J. Wise forgeries. Julian Symons' Bland Beginning (or as it is sometimes titled, Bland Beginnings), first published in 1949, is a schlock-filled romp (think P.G. Wodehouse plus Agatha Christie, but not all that well written). But it's full of interesting details about the Wise forgeries and Carter and Pollard's enquiries into them, making it absolutely worth the few hours it takes to read it. ( )