Product Description

In this latest installment in W.J. Burley’s long–running Wycliffe series, there’s a murder at an artist’s colony—and not everyone wants the Chief Superintendent to investigate…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #833494 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Publisher
On the moor west of St. Ives, at the site of a disused mine, lies an artists’ colony. Known as the Guild of Nine, it was set up by Archer, who runs it according to astrological principles, and his wife Lina, a woman with her feet rather more firmly on the ground. The newest member, a beautiful young woman named Francine, has a legacy she wants to invest in the colony. Archer isn’t sure—not least because she is a Scorpio; Lina, as always, takes a more pragmatic view. But then Francine is found dead in her bed, asphyxiated by a deliberately blocked gas heater. Chief Superintendent Wycliffe investigates and soon discovers that several members of the colony have good reasons for not wanting the police involved. Then, right under Wycliffe’s nose, comes another death… W.J. Burley is the author of more than 20 books in the popular Wycliffe mystery series.

About the Author
W.J. Burley lived near Newquay in Cornwall, and was a schoolmaster until he retired to concentrate on his writing. His many Wycliffe books include, most recently, Wycliffe and the Guild of Nine. He died in 2002.

Customer Reviews

Not the best of the series, but still good.
This is the last completed book in the Wycliffe series (Burley had just started a new book when he died in 2002), and revisits the characters from an earlier book. It's set ten years after the events of "The Quiet Virgin", but can be read as a standalone. Detective Chief Inspector Wycliffe is in even more melancholy mood than usual, for he has to face both a new, and _female_, commanding officer, and the murder of a young woman he knows from an old case. For Wycliffe the case brings both guilt at not having kept in touch with Francine, and pleasure at seeing other figures from the past. Some strands of the plot are obvious, but as a second murder and then a third violent death interrupt the police investigation the possiblities multiply.

One of the weaker books in the series, in my view, but still no disappointment. As with the series in general, it's an enjoyable read for those times when you'd like something complex enough to be satisfying but short and simple enough to follow when you're tired or distracted. Note that there are major spoilers for earlier book "A Quiet Virgin".