Reviews

• Great old school crime novel by an underrated writer

  Gripping novel. Out of print but copies still available second hand around the net. This writer only wrote two novels. such a shame he did not write more.

• A Good Samaritan

  Mr Conrad Nield is not a bad man. He is stuck in his ways, pompous, conservative and self-righteous. Outwardly happily married, at 46 he has reached the respectability of teaching inspector; a long way up the ladder for a lad with a socialist foundry worker father. He despises 'trendy left-wing thinking' in education and stands on the verge of a career move that will see him through to a comfortable retirement. 'Accident',circumstance, coincidence, however you call it, conspire to turn his world on its head. What will happen to this 'innocent' man as he becomes chief suspect in a dreadful crime? The major strength of this book is the characterization of Conrad and his wife Stephanie. They are much more than mere cyphers for the story. Conrad is shown as having a dangerous arrogance as he takes on his police interrogators because he has 'a tougher mind and a sharper intellect'. The danger for Conrad is made more real to the modern reader who is aware of several highly publicised miscarriages of justice originating from this period. The moral message of 'Be a Good Citizen' is thus a double-edged sword and quite a thought-provoking crime novel bordering on 'lack of' police procedural emerges. The police progress report is shown as 'we must get more cardboard boxes' for all the paper which is collecting dust for 'evidence when there's another murder'. Really enjoyed this novel. My only reservation was that Mr Hutton was slightly boxed in with regard to options on how to finish. His choice is brave or lazy depending on your view.

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