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Gregory Saltfleet #1
The Schoolgirl Murder Case
The rape and murder of a young teen leads Inspector Saltfleet into "a dark labyrinth of sexual magic, perversion and devil worship." 205+ pages.
205 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Colin Wilson
429 books1,290 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 30, 2018
it is so interesting to me that a Colin Wilson novel can still be interesting as a "Colin Wilson novel" while also being thoroughly uninteresting. reading this book reminded me of doing a deep dive into the films of an auteur from classic Hollywood: you will come across a lot of dross made for money, but you will still see the hand of the director, their abiding interests and their individual styles displayed throughout all of their works. and so it is with this dull boy.
the story is neither as salacious as its title suggests nor does it involve a schoolgirl. I was happily surprised by that. but I shouldn't have been surprised; I know this author. more often than not, he churned out potboilers for money, but he is not the sort to write salacious trash. Wilson always has his points to make.
this is an account of how Chief Superintendent Gregory Saltfleet of the Scotland Yard solves a perplexing double murder in a small number of days. we see the interior of Saltfleet and there is not a lot to remark on: he's a calm, decent, tolerant man. a basically uninteresting protagonist but also perfectly pleasant. the story includes many of Wilson's fascinations: people living outside the mainstream norm, magic of the Aleister Crowley variety, violent and sexual obsessions, the workings of an aberrant mind.
the style is dry but relaxed, the story told with a minimum of drama and fuss. there is a casualness to the storytelling in how it accounts for nearly every part of our protagonist's working life, including - annoyingly - cases that having nothing to do with this one. various lagers and liquors are imbibed throughout the day in an equally casual way - that was fun to read, and I have to admit that it sounds rather nice being on the English police force in 1974 - and various witnesses and suspects are just as casually given intimate details of the case and even taken along on interviews, and in one eyebrow-raising scene, an autopsy. it is indeed all so casual. stakes appear not-so-high because nearly every single character goes about reacting to this double murder with only the slightest of interest. including the villain, who we quickly realize is the attractive and completely annoying young artist who condescendingly upbraids our polite superintendent on his supposed complacency - a rudeness that is clearly the mark of a smug psychopath! only Saltfleet himself seems interested in helping people not go astray into lives of horror and who is willing to see the human under the sometimes unpleasant identity they wear. as one of his colleagues comments, the man should have been a priest.
the book, boring as it may be, is interesting to contemplate as a reaction from Wilson against those individuals and that certain fabric of society who share his interests, but only in the most offensively shallow and obtuse of ways. Wilson doesn't view fakers kindly.
my favorite bit:
also, what is up with the bizarrely illiterate synopsis of this book? that Kirkus reviewer must have had a few too many lagers and liquors when writing it.
the story is neither as salacious as its title suggests nor does it involve a schoolgirl. I was happily surprised by that. but I shouldn't have been surprised; I know this author. more often than not, he churned out potboilers for money, but he is not the sort to write salacious trash. Wilson always has his points to make.
this is an account of how Chief Superintendent Gregory Saltfleet of the Scotland Yard solves a perplexing double murder in a small number of days. we see the interior of Saltfleet and there is not a lot to remark on: he's a calm, decent, tolerant man. a basically uninteresting protagonist but also perfectly pleasant. the story includes many of Wilson's fascinations: people living outside the mainstream norm, magic of the Aleister Crowley variety, violent and sexual obsessions, the workings of an aberrant mind.
the style is dry but relaxed, the story told with a minimum of drama and fuss. there is a casualness to the storytelling in how it accounts for nearly every part of our protagonist's working life, including - annoyingly - cases that having nothing to do with this one. various lagers and liquors are imbibed throughout the day in an equally casual way - that was fun to read, and I have to admit that it sounds rather nice being on the English police force in 1974 - and various witnesses and suspects are just as casually given intimate details of the case and even taken along on interviews, and in one eyebrow-raising scene, an autopsy. it is indeed all so casual. stakes appear not-so-high because nearly every single character goes about reacting to this double murder with only the slightest of interest. including the villain, who we quickly realize is the attractive and completely annoying young artist who condescendingly upbraids our polite superintendent on his supposed complacency - a rudeness that is clearly the mark of a smug psychopath! only Saltfleet himself seems interested in helping people not go astray into lives of horror and who is willing to see the human under the sometimes unpleasant identity they wear. as one of his colleagues comments, the man should have been a priest.
the book, boring as it may be, is interesting to contemplate as a reaction from Wilson against those individuals and that certain fabric of society who share his interests, but only in the most offensively shallow and obtuse of ways. Wilson doesn't view fakers kindly.
my favorite bit:
Aspinal, who was fitting a blade into the scalpel, said, "Would you like to watch, or would you prefer to go?"
She glanced at Saltfleet.
"Will it be all right if I stay?"
"Of course. If Dr. Aspinal doesn't mind."
She gave a short laugh. "It's not every day you see your boss cut up."
Aspinal said, with grave courtesy, "It must be a liberating experience." Without further ado, he sliced into the skin below the adam's apple...
also, what is up with the bizarrely illiterate synopsis of this book? that Kirkus reviewer must have had a few too many lagers and liquors when writing it.
September 22, 2019
Sometimes I read an author and I realize they like all the things I like. That happened with this book. Sex, magic, conspiracy, secret societies. It's also a casually dark book, with interesting characters. I finished it in two days.
Compare that to the Russian novel, Oblomov, which I had been trying to read. After two weeks I'd barely cracked 100 pages. It felt like a chore. By comparison, "The Schoolgirl Murder Case" was a joy.
The other book I read by Wilson was "The Misfits", which is also very weird and about sexual deviance. That one is nonfiction. It evidently left enough of an impression in my brain that, when I saw "Schoolgirl" in a used bookshop, I grabbed it immediately.
"Colin Wilson," my brain told me. "You like him.
I do? I read the opening of the book, which immediately starts with murder. Oh yes. I do.
This is not a perfect police procedural novel. A lot of it is sketchy and questionable. Plus there's some mysticism in the middle that is quite fun, but very unlikely and goofy. Still, even the flaws struck me at least somewhat enjoyable.
If I have one major complaint about this book, it's that the detective's name is Saltfleet and every time I read it I saw Starfleet.
Compare that to the Russian novel, Oblomov, which I had been trying to read. After two weeks I'd barely cracked 100 pages. It felt like a chore. By comparison, "The Schoolgirl Murder Case" was a joy.
The other book I read by Wilson was "The Misfits", which is also very weird and about sexual deviance. That one is nonfiction. It evidently left enough of an impression in my brain that, when I saw "Schoolgirl" in a used bookshop, I grabbed it immediately.
"Colin Wilson," my brain told me. "You like him.
I do? I read the opening of the book, which immediately starts with murder. Oh yes. I do.
This is not a perfect police procedural novel. A lot of it is sketchy and questionable. Plus there's some mysticism in the middle that is quite fun, but very unlikely and goofy. Still, even the flaws struck me at least somewhat enjoyable.
If I have one major complaint about this book, it's that the detective's name is Saltfleet and every time I read it I saw Starfleet.
January 19, 2017
This was rough going. It's basically a seventies detective story with a sex magic theme. Told chronologically only from only the viewpoint of the detective. I have read a lot, by now probably most, of Colin Wilson's books, both fiction and non-fiction, and this was fairly disappointing and definitely not among his best. I only read it in bed and as such I guess it was pretty adequate. For the rest I can't recommend it.
May 29, 2022
Three and a half stars: More of a police procedural than a mystery, it follows a detective piecing together bits of information as evidence to prove who is guilty. It's interesting and well written and not as lurid as the title would suggest.
December 27, 2025
I made it through.
For a short novel this was a slog. The main detective Saltfleet seemed a decent enough fellow and he was a good investigator but the whole sex and magic plotline was ridiculous and the other characters were pretty much all awful and all liars.
For a short novel this was a slog. The main detective Saltfleet seemed a decent enough fellow and he was a good investigator but the whole sex and magic plotline was ridiculous and the other characters were pretty much all awful and all liars.
January 27, 2026
*3.25*
Problematic aaand still Saltfleet made it enjoyable. Not unlike the racist underpinnings of Nancy Drew mysteries. Certainly a valid study in the formulaic detective genre.
Problematic aaand still Saltfleet made it enjoyable. Not unlike the racist underpinnings of Nancy Drew mysteries. Certainly a valid study in the formulaic detective genre.
December 31, 2024
[Panther Books Limited] (1975). SB. 205 Pages. Purchased from ‘johnshire’.
Colin Wilson - a self-declared “genius” - was on home ground with this bizarre jumble.
At some level, it’s a ‘Police Procedural’, featuring Murder, Rape, Pedophilia, Drug Abuse, Prostitution, Occultism, Adolf Hitler, Aleister Crowley, Mediums, Astrologers, Perverts, Bank Robbery, Sadism, Extortion, The Order of the Golden Dawn, The Thule Society and so forth…
The narrative’s rambling and stretched to accomodate many of the author’s preoccupations.
Colin Wilson - a self-declared “genius” - was on home ground with this bizarre jumble.
At some level, it’s a ‘Police Procedural’, featuring Murder, Rape, Pedophilia, Drug Abuse, Prostitution, Occultism, Adolf Hitler, Aleister Crowley, Mediums, Astrologers, Perverts, Bank Robbery, Sadism, Extortion, The Order of the Golden Dawn, The Thule Society and so forth…
The narrative’s rambling and stretched to accomodate many of the author’s preoccupations.
June 4, 2012
Much as I admire Wilson's enthusiasm for human potentials, he has written some really poor fiction--for money, one assumes--which but dimly reflect his concerns.
August 14, 2011
The book is really hard to get into but the idea and the story are interesting enough.
August 10, 2016
Colin Wilson thriller that I read back in 1983.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews