Hunt the Slipper

by Henry Cecil

Harriet and Graham have been happily married for twenty year. One day Graham fails to return home and Harriet begins to realise she has been abandoned. This feeling is strengthened when she starts to receive monthly payments from an untraceable source. After five years on her own Harriet begins to see another man and divorces Graham on the grounds of his desertion. Then one evening Harriet returns home to find Graham sitting in a chair, casually reading a book. Her initial relief turns to anger and then to fear when she realises, that if Graham's story is true, she may never trust his sanity again. This complex comedy thriller will grip your attention to the very last page.

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Henry Cecil Leon (19 September 1902 – 23 May 1976), who wrote under the pen-names Henry Cecil and Clifford Maxwell, was a judge and a writer of fiction about the British legal system. He was born near London in 1902 and was called to the Bar in 1923. Later in 1949 he was appointed a County Court Judge, a position he held until 1967. He used these experiences as inspiration for his work. His books are works of great comic genius with unpredictable twists of plot, but are not intended to be realistic or strong on characterization. They typically feature educated and genteel fraudsters and blackmailers who lay ludicrously ingenious plots exploiting loopholes in the legal system. There are several recurring characters, such as the drunken solicitor Mr Tewkesbury and the convoluted and exasperating witness Colonel Brain. He writes well about the judicial process, usually through the eyes of a young barrister but sometimes from the viewpoint of the judge; Daughters in Law contains a memorable snub from a County Court judge to a barrister who is trying to patronise him.

His 1955 novel Brothers in Law was made into a film in 1957 and, later, a television and radio series starring Richard Briers. While at Paramount Pictures, Alfred Hitchcock worked on adapting No Bail for the Judge for the screen several times between 1954 and 1960, and hoped to co-star Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Harvey, and John Williams, but the film was never produced.

Reviews

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a classic Cecil and twists and turns and then abruptly ends when you least expect it. The best part was never being able to believe the real reason for the 7 year absence, and one's imagination does take off with aliens kidnappings and things, at least mine did! But we all get down to earth and end up discussing the fine points of law, as how it was meant to be.