Wycliffe and the Redhead (Wycliffe Series) - Softcover

Burley, W.J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752881434 ISBN 13: 9780752881430

Publisher: Orion, 2007

Synopsis

The discovery of a body in a quarry creates a baffling case for Detective Superintendent Wycliffe

Simon Meagor was a lonely middle-aged man. With a broken marriage behind him, his life was centred on his antiquarian bookshop. In his past was the memory of a murder trial where his evidence had resulted in the conviction of a man who had subsequently killed himself. Now, to his horror, the daughter of that man was applying for a job in his shop and, almost mesmerised by her, Simon found he was agreeing to her employment. Cleverly, over a period of time, Morwenna manipulated herself into his work, his life, and finally into his flat above the shop. And then she disappeared.

When her body was discovered in a flooded quarry, at first suicide was considered. Morwenna was suffering from a fatal disease. But everything pointed to murder and, inevitably, suspicion fell on Simon Meagor.
Wycliffe became increasingly disturbed by a case which grew more and more complicated as he explored many dark and murky secrets from the past.

About this title

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 novels were extremely popular and were adapted for a highly successful TV series starring Jack Shepherd. W.J. Burley died in 2002.

From Booklist:

Whenever a character comes back as many times as Chief Superintendent Wycliffe (21 appearances), a reviewer is faced with a dilemma: What can you say that you haven't already said? Reviewing Wycliffe and the House of Fear (1996), we called attention to Burley's "solid plotting, well-described and colorful setting, and intriguing characters." All that is equally true in this story of the disappearance and possible murder of redhead Morwenna Barker, last known to be working for a Falmouth bookseller whose testimony once sent her father to jail for manslaughter. Morwenna is much more than she seems in Burley's delightful teaser of a plot, and the Cornwall setting, with its remote valleys and rugged coasts, is as vividly described as ever. The characters, again led by the thoughtful and insightful Wycliffe, are thoroughly satisfying. Finally, we have no choice but to repeat ourselves by emphasizing one more time how pleasurable the familiar conventions of the genre can be in the hands of a writer as good as Burley. Stuart Miller

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0752881434
• ISBN 13: 9780752881430
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256