The Case of the Famished Parson by George Bellairs was first published in 1949.
Detective Inspector Tom Littlejohn of Scotland Yard and his wife have gone to the Cape Mervin Hotel on the north west coast of England for rest and recuperation, but it is not to be as it isn’t long before another guest, Dr James Macintosh, the Bishop of Greyle’s body is discovered. He has been battered on the back of his head and pushed over a cliff. The post mortem reveals that the bishop’s body was emaciated. The bishop’s wife has no idea why her husband had left their room late in the night after he received a phone call, it seems a rather strange relationship.
Littlejohn gets to work investigating. There are a number of dodgy seeming characters who are also guests at the hotel, but things really get going when Littlejohn delves into the background of the bishop and his wife. There are lots of local connections and Littlejohn himself becomes a target.
I enjoyed this one, there’s quite a bit of humour in it and I find that vintage crime just hits the spot at the moment.
Thanks for the recommendation. I found this on Kindle Unlimited as a box set with two other books by the same author. ??
Rebecca,
Thanks for that info. I hope you enjoy them when you get around to reading them.
I’m up to my fourth book now . Really enjoying this author. I had never heard of him but am so glad you recommended his work. A lot of his books are on Kindle Unlimited. My lockdown reading for a while is sorted, thanks to you.??
Rebecca,
I’m so glad you are enjoying his books. You are beating me, I think I’ve only read three so far. I managed to get some of his ebooks for free from the George Bellairs Estate.
Katrina,
How fascinating–that George Bellairs had a book published in 1949!
As you probably know, he wrote children’s mystery books that were published here in the 1970s. They were wildly popular. I gave them as gifts to a number of my young cousins and they adored them. And my 6th grade eleven and twelve-year-olds loved them as well. I’m so interested that Bellairs had a career before he wrote these books. He was an older gent at the time he wrote the ones I speak about. Very interested. Thanks!
Judith,
You got me all excited there as I thought I had missed that he wrote for children, sadly it seems it was John Bellairs an American who wrote the books you must be thinking about! I must check him out.
You got me at the title! I’ve enjoyed the Bellairs books I’ve read so far and I agree that vintage crime is a great way to take our minds off the current anxieties – nothing like a good murder to cheer us all up! ?
FictionFan,
Absolutely, I have no idea why murder mysteries should be such relaxing reads – maybe it’s because at least somebody is worse off than we are!