Poison at the Pueblo

by Tim Heald

At Arizona Brown's exclusive language school, former British gangster Jimmy Trubshawe is discovered on his back, clad only in boxer shorts and white socks, his face purple. He is of course dead. Cause of death is established as ingestion of poisonous mushrooms. But was the unfortunate Trubshawe's fatal meal an accident or murder?

208 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Tim Heald (b. 1944) is a journalist and author of mysteries. Born in Dorchester, England, he studied modern history at Oxford before becoming a reporter and columnist for the Sunday Times. He began writing novels in the early 1970s, starting with Unbecoming Habits (1973), which introduced Simon Bognor, a defiantly lazy investigator for the British Board of Trade. Heald followed Bognor through nine more novels, including Murder at Moose Jaw (1981) and Business Unusual (1989) before taking a two-decade break from the series, which returned in 2011 with Death in the Opening Chapter.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the latest Simon Bognor excursion from the pen of former Chairman of the CWA, (Crime Writer’s Association) Tim Heald. Our ageing hero is head of Special Investigations Department at the Board of Trade, (known to one and all as SIDBOT). He is luxuriating in his recent knighthood alongside his self-indulgent but charming wife, Lady Monica, when he is called upon by the Prime Minister’s Office to travel to Spain to investigate the death of one Jimmy Trubshawe, a Costa-dwelling escapee from a British jail. It appears that Jimmy breathed his last after consuming a dish of mushrooms at the Pueblo, at an up-market language school near Salamanca.

The ethos of the school is to have an equal number of English and Spanish clients at one time, all of whom conduct their conversations on various topics solely in English. Simon is to infiltrate this group as a supposed client. He sets off for Spain accompanied by his sidekick, Harvey Contractor, and Lady Monica, who will inhabit a luxury hotel in Salamanca while Sir Simon stays at the Pueblo. Their contacts in the Guardia Civil are fully aware of what is going on.

Sir Simon is somewhat put out when he discovers that Harvey Contractor is extremely knowledgeable on the subject of mushrooms, poisonous and benign. The Guardia Civil inform him that his English fellow-guests at the Pueblo are Tracey, George and Camilla, all of whom seem to be connected with Essex in one way or another, and the Spaniards are Leonel, a businessman, Belen, who is in the hotel business, Eduardo, a shipping magnate, and Lola, a very way-out nun. The courses are led by Arizona Brown, a Californian, and Felipe Lee, who claims to be a by-blow of the late Laurie.

Bognor joins the group and rapidly discovers that none of them are what they seem, and he can rule out none of them. As usual, he tries not to be a snob, but just can’t help it. All his fellow-students behave extremely suspiciously, and one, in the dark and therefore unidentifiable, actually takes a pot-shot at him.

The plot, it has to be said, is skeletally thin, and not one of my favourite books.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. I can't believe I read the whole thing. Thought for sure something was going to actually happen. Nothing did.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a long-time fan of Heald's Simon Bognor, I was disappointed by his last book, which seemed rather disorganized and sketchy. But I hoped that was a momentary glitch, and was glad to try this one. No joy! Bognor, with age and professional achievement, has become stuffy and given to telling himself that he's not racist, sexist, anti-foreigner, stuffy...you get the idea. The plot peters out rapidly (briefly, an expatriate English criminal dies suddenly in Spain, and Bognor goes out to investigate his death). And the book is sloppily written and edited, with many repetitions slowing progress. Too bad.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've previously read nearly all of Heald's books in the Simon Bognor series, and liked them. This one is quite different, though it also contains the typical British dry humor. The mystery is clearly secondary to Bognor's musings about whether or not his professional life has amounted to anything. I'd have liked it better if there had been more of a puzzle or mystery element as the center of the book.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need an annotated edition of this series. Annoyed. Feel that I got the references of about 3/4 of the stuff. And Inspector Alleyn is not an amateur, though I agree he is an example of the Golden Age detectives.

[Lakshmi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot was non existent, and the book became trying, as the author was trying too hard..

[Gammamaggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf