Wycliffe and the last rites - Hardcover

Burley, W.J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0575053453 ISBN 13: 9780575053458

Publisher: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1992

Synopsis

A bizarre murder in a quiet Cornish village - but Wycliffe's investigation throws up more questions than answers.

A bizarre murder shakes the Cornish village of Moresk. Arriving at church on Easter morning the vicar discovers the body of a woman sprawled across the chancel steps. Has the church been desecrated by a Satanist ritual? Chief Superintendent Wycliffe sees the crime more as an expression of hatred directed at others in the community, besides the dead woman.

His investigation, however, is frustrated at every turn, and when another horrific murder is committed Wycliffe thinks he knows who the killer is. But can he prove it?

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 Kirkus Reviews

The Cornish riverside village of Moresk is home to some quietly skewed characters, among them twin sisters Kathy and Jessica Dobell--Kathy is married to prosperous contractor Abe Geach; Jessica is running the worn-out farm left by their parents and eking out her bare living with cleaning chores at the town church. One early morning she's found there by Vicar Michael Jordan, clubbed to death, her body ritualistically posed at the foot of a religious statue. Detective Chief Superintendent Charles Wycliffe (Wycliffe and the Dead Flautist, etc.) gets the case, with teammates Doug Kersey and Lucy Lane. Setting up headquarters in an old schoolhouse, the three begin an exploration of Jessica's life, which included many sexual partners. One of them was Laurence Vintner, a failed teacher who, with his wife and teenaged son, helped work Jessica's farm in return for their keep. There's also disfigured scientist Brian Lavin, living on a houseboat with a slightly retarded young male companion. The list extends to Jessica's brother-in-law and others. Anonymous letters, an old, unsolved hit-and-run fatality, and a second murder muddy the waters, but Wycliffe's intuitive sleuthing will finally come through. Rather slow-paced, talky, but nicely atmospheric police procedural. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Victor Gollancz Ltd.
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0575053453
• ISBN 13: 9780575053458
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192