Winter Reading 2018 Coffin, Scarcely Used (Flaxborough Chronicles #1)

First published 60 years ago in England, the Flaxborough Chronicles feature Inspector Purbright and the inhabitants of the town Flaxborough. In this first book of the series, Purbright is looking into the mysterious death of man who seems to have left his house in the middle of the night and been electrocuted. Could he have actually been climbing the pylon for the electrical lines in his slippers? It doesn't make sense, and the longer the investigation goes on, the stranger things become. What do a newspaper editor, a doctor, an undertaker, a lawyer, and a broker have in common? With conflicting accounts from those closest to the deceased, interviews with the housekeeper that show she believes in ghosts and supernatural beings, and pressure from the Chief Constable and the Coroner's Court to wrap things up, it seems that Purbright may never find out what really happened and why. With smiles and apologies for the inconvenience, he still manages to question everyone involved and slowly put together a picture that is not what anyone would have suspected.

There are death and suspicions to deal with, but there are also many humorous points in the book. Sometimes it is the words or actions of the characters, but at others it is simply the writing. For instance, the newspaper's owner is described as a man who "spoke only one-sidedly, as though half his lips had been sewn up to prevent waste of words and body heat." And readers learn that the doctor's "head was perched on the great promontory of his chest as though it had separate existence and might tumble off if it strained forward any further." Descriptions like that create a vivid mental image and a sense of the farcical. Which of these individuals should readers take seriously as suspects and which are simply there for comic relief? Perhaps they are both.

Readers who enjoy Miss Marple and mysteries set in small English towns full of eccentric residents will welcome having this series drawn to their attention.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.