March 15, 2003
Academy Chicago continues its reissuing of the work of British crime-fiction master Bruce with this rousing mystery, originally published in 1965 but now appearing for the first time in the U.S. Carolus Deene, Bruce's independently wealthy schoolmaster and amateur sleuth, faces a particularly baffling case with the disappearance of solicitor Duncan Humby. Not that suspects don't abound. When Humby "vanished into thin air," he was on this way to the remote village of Hallow's End, where he was going to rewrite the will of an eccentric millionaire who had decided to disinherit his offspring: a classic premise for a classic British village cozy in the grand Christie tradition. Fans of the Golden Age of the British mystery will enjoy watching the witty, oh-so-wise Deene sink his teeth into the seemingly unfathomable puzzle. The best British sleuths, from Lord Peter Wimsey to Inspector Morse, have all managed somehow to make their superciliousness into an attractive character trait; Deene does it as well as anyone.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)