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Wycliffe #20
Wycliffe and the House of Fear
The Kemps, a Cornish Catholic family, have held on to their hometown of Kellycoryk for almost 500 years, but it is beginning to look as though the present century will be their last. Roger, head of the shrinking clan, is desperate to save the family's house and land. His second marriage to the shrewd and tough businesswoman Bridget seemingly offers a way out. But Bridget, prosperous head of her own company, has plans of her own—taking Kellycoryk over for development. Then suddenly, Bridget disappears, and old memories begin to be raked over. Hadn't Julia, Roger's first wife (also a wealthy woman) disappeared mysteriously as well, presumably in a boating accident? Did Roger, his sister, and his disturbed children know more about the past than had ever been revealed? Wycliffe, who is supposed to be recuperating from an illness at home, finds the Kemps' case too intriguing to ignore.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
16 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
W.J. Burley
44 books25 followersBurley was born in Falmouth, Cornwall. Before he began writing, he was employed in senior management with various gas companies, before giving it up after the Second World War when he obtained a scholarship to study zoology at Balliol College, Oxford. After obtaining an honours degree he became a teacher. Appointed head of biology, first at Richmond & East Sheen County Grammar School in 1953, then at Newquay Grammar School in 1955, he was well established as a writer by the time he retired at the age of 60 in 1974. He died at his home in Holywell, Cornwall, on 15 August 2002.
John Burley had his first novel published when he was in his early fifties. His second published novel, two years later, saw the appearance of Superintendent Charles Wycliffe.
Over the next 25 years Burley produced another seventeen Wycliffe books and five other books.
Then, late in 1993, one of Burley's Wycliffe stories appeared on television in a pilot starring Jack Shepherd.
The pilot was followed by 37 episodes broadcast over a five year period.
By 1995 the author was, for the first time in his life, financially comfortable. He was over eighty.
But the success of the television series meant that John Burley found himself overshadowed by his creations. To the public, the name Wycliffe brought to mind the unsmiling face of Jack Shepherd, the actor. Even in the bookshops it was Shepherd's face that dominated the covers of Burley's paperbacks.
John Burley, however, continued to write and produced a further four Wycliffe titles. He was working on his 23rd Wycliffe novel, Wycliffe's Last Lap, when he died in 2002.
Recently a wish to restore the balance has emerged from amongst his readers. There is a feeling that we are neglecting a writer of quality, one who deserves to stand beside Simenon, the creator of Inspector Maigret.
Reading through John Burley's books in publication sequence, one notices how the author's voice gets stronger and his views more certain. And how his writing skills grow until, in the later books, a few words are all that it takes to pin down an image. These are the signs of a writer confident in his craft.
John Burley had his first novel published when he was in his early fifties. His second published novel, two years later, saw the appearance of Superintendent Charles Wycliffe.
Over the next 25 years Burley produced another seventeen Wycliffe books and five other books.
Then, late in 1993, one of Burley's Wycliffe stories appeared on television in a pilot starring Jack Shepherd.
The pilot was followed by 37 episodes broadcast over a five year period.
By 1995 the author was, for the first time in his life, financially comfortable. He was over eighty.
But the success of the television series meant that John Burley found himself overshadowed by his creations. To the public, the name Wycliffe brought to mind the unsmiling face of Jack Shepherd, the actor. Even in the bookshops it was Shepherd's face that dominated the covers of Burley's paperbacks.
John Burley, however, continued to write and produced a further four Wycliffe titles. He was working on his 23rd Wycliffe novel, Wycliffe's Last Lap, when he died in 2002.
Recently a wish to restore the balance has emerged from amongst his readers. There is a feeling that we are neglecting a writer of quality, one who deserves to stand beside Simenon, the creator of Inspector Maigret.
Reading through John Burley's books in publication sequence, one notices how the author's voice gets stronger and his views more certain. And how his writing skills grow until, in the later books, a few words are all that it takes to pin down an image. These are the signs of a writer confident in his craft.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 5, 2018
Good 1990s style mystery from Inp.W
March 11, 2021
È il secondo libro di questo scrittore e sono ancora cauta nel giudizio.
Pregi: è inglese, come piace a me; fa parte di una serie, come piace a me; l’ambiente è circoscritto e gli indiziati sono pochi, compie piace a me; il metodo di investigazione è quello di Poirot, dialoghi, interrogatori e riflessioni, senza alibi cronometrati al millesimo, come piace a me.
Ma: le descrizioni a volte sono ripetitive, il mare è sempre una lastra, di acciaio, di metallo, di luce e così via, i personaggi sono sfocati, quasi assenti le descrizioni fisiche e poco empatiche le descrizioni caratteriali: la moglie di Wycliffe, ad esempio, sembra un ritratto con la faccia ritagliata tanto è minima la sua caratterizzazione. La mia impressione è che lo stile sia didascalico, poco emozionale.
La trama regge, anche se, alla fine un po’ scontata.
La confezione finale appare un tipico prodotto degli anni 80: un tentativo di essere più moderni di Agatha ma senza arrivare alla vera modernità di Ian Rankin o Reginald Hill.
Quindi? Ne ho ordinati altri due!
Pregi: è inglese, come piace a me; fa parte di una serie, come piace a me; l’ambiente è circoscritto e gli indiziati sono pochi, compie piace a me; il metodo di investigazione è quello di Poirot, dialoghi, interrogatori e riflessioni, senza alibi cronometrati al millesimo, come piace a me.
Ma: le descrizioni a volte sono ripetitive, il mare è sempre una lastra, di acciaio, di metallo, di luce e così via, i personaggi sono sfocati, quasi assenti le descrizioni fisiche e poco empatiche le descrizioni caratteriali: la moglie di Wycliffe, ad esempio, sembra un ritratto con la faccia ritagliata tanto è minima la sua caratterizzazione. La mia impressione è che lo stile sia didascalico, poco emozionale.
La trama regge, anche se, alla fine un po’ scontata.
La confezione finale appare un tipico prodotto degli anni 80: un tentativo di essere più moderni di Agatha ma senza arrivare alla vera modernità di Ian Rankin o Reginald Hill.
Quindi? Ne ho ordinati altri due!
March 3, 2023
I'm afraid my interest was fairly rapidly sedated - Wycliffe on holiday, and inevitably caught up in a murder on his doorstep as he becomes intrigued by the travails of the local landed gentry. I'm afraid that as soon as landowners appear my imagination starts running to the French solution and the application of the guillotine.
It's a mediocre tale - 3 stars in my book is average, and Burley was capable of much better. There are one or two twists, but it's predictable. Oh, it's well written (hence the 3 stars) in the sense that he handles language well and communicates with ease, but the story is tired, the emotions are tepid.
It did, however, deliver one moment of excitement - the use of a word in a game of 'Scrabble': I had to go look up the meaning of 'ziphiiform' ... I won't deny you the excitement, suffice to say it's not a word I can imagine either of us using in a conversation down the pub ... although i may, out of badness, make it a point of dishonour to do so.
In my opinion, the weakest of the Wycliffes - it's a story which has clearly been assembled rather than one which has grown organically. There's something artificial and contrived about it. Tepid.
It's a mediocre tale - 3 stars in my book is average, and Burley was capable of much better. There are one or two twists, but it's predictable. Oh, it's well written (hence the 3 stars) in the sense that he handles language well and communicates with ease, but the story is tired, the emotions are tepid.
It did, however, deliver one moment of excitement - the use of a word in a game of 'Scrabble': I had to go look up the meaning of 'ziphiiform' ... I won't deny you the excitement, suffice to say it's not a word I can imagine either of us using in a conversation down the pub ... although i may, out of badness, make it a point of dishonour to do so.
In my opinion, the weakest of the Wycliffes - it's a story which has clearly been assembled rather than one which has grown organically. There's something artificial and contrived about it. Tepid.
August 16, 2024
For me, the appeal of the Wycliffe novels lies in the character of Charles Wycliffe himself. He's a quiet man, but ruthless in the pursuit of truth. He doesn't reach his conclusions through razor sharp logic though, rather he likes to accumulate details - many of which seem irrelevant to his colleagues - and let them marinate in his unconscious. This quote from this novel sums it up:
'what he needed was time to think, at least to indulge in that capricious reverie which he regarded as a substitute for thought.'
In this book, he's on holiday with his wife, on the Cornish coast, staying in a rented cottage. During their walks together, they discover a crumbling old mansion which Wycliffe finds intriguing. Curiosity leads him to learn more about it and he finds it's the home of an old family who own a large, neglected estate that includes the cove where the Wycliffes are staying. The current members of the family are somewhat strange, introverted, seemingly alienated from each other and haunted by a tragedy that happened five years earlier. Then another death occurs and Wycliffe becomes involved professionally, drawn into the gothic secrets of Kellycoryk House.
'what he needed was time to think, at least to indulge in that capricious reverie which he regarded as a substitute for thought.'
In this book, he's on holiday with his wife, on the Cornish coast, staying in a rented cottage. During their walks together, they discover a crumbling old mansion which Wycliffe finds intriguing. Curiosity leads him to learn more about it and he finds it's the home of an old family who own a large, neglected estate that includes the cove where the Wycliffes are staying. The current members of the family are somewhat strange, introverted, seemingly alienated from each other and haunted by a tragedy that happened five years earlier. Then another death occurs and Wycliffe becomes involved professionally, drawn into the gothic secrets of Kellycoryk House.
March 1, 2023
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive’ sums up the weird Kemp family mystery that causes yet another interruption to a Wycliffe holiday. While I have read the three volumes in the Cornish Detective series that I had on my TBR pile, little about the main character and his methods of detection have elicited any particular desire to actively seek out others. In the crime genre, Authors like; Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Mark Billingham and Alex Gray will continue to take precedence.
February 12, 2024
Picked up 3 Wycliffe paperbacks for £1 from charity shop and glad I didn’t pay more. All 3 had a crumbling family house, a psychotic child and some thoroughly unpleasant females. Lots of the text was cut and paste. As well as the recycled plot. Shant be looking for any more
March 20, 2018
If you like old crime series you will enjoy Wycliffe
Want to read
February 3, 2019Synopsis: CS Wycliffe is involved in murder once again. Could Roger Kemp have married and murdered two wealthy women?
June 20, 2020
Great little read. I love the British murder mysteries!
August 1, 2020
Astoundingly good -- one of the best mysteries I have ever read. The only problem is that now I have to read all the other books in the Wycliffe series, and there are a lot....
July 25, 2021
quite a story
August 21, 2025
easy read murder mystery
February 8, 2015
W.J. Burley's on familiar ground here: a country pile occupied by a family racked by secrets. It's well executed and fans of the country-house mystery will enjoy it immensely - it's almost a throw-back novel, not just to Burley's early career but to an earlier form of crime writing.
With Jack Shepherd's TV portrayal of Wycliffe adorning the cover of a new novel for the first time I wonder at this. Was Burley just playing safe and writing within himself? Or was it a somewhat spiteful response to his character's sudden popularity? The Wycliffe TV series drew a weekly audience of over ten million viewers in its first run and was one of the first TV dramas to show real crime and CID procedurals in rural Britain. Rather than enjoying this success, that came towards the end of his life, Burley bitterly resented that Shepherd should become more famous through his character than he had [edit: Burley and Shepherd in fact became friends and any bitterness is disputed - see comments below].
It's impossible to answer these questions one way or another. Whether written through an unwillingness to push himself or to provoke his new public, it's fair to say that this novel marks a break from the development of style and procedure that had characterised the author's output to this point.
With Jack Shepherd's TV portrayal of Wycliffe adorning the cover of a new novel for the first time I wonder at this. Was Burley just playing safe and writing within himself? Or was it a somewhat spiteful response to his character's sudden popularity? The Wycliffe TV series drew a weekly audience of over ten million viewers in its first run and was one of the first TV dramas to show real crime and CID procedurals in rural Britain. Rather than enjoying this success, that came towards the end of his life, Burley bitterly resented that Shepherd should become more famous through his character than he had [edit: Burley and Shepherd in fact became friends and any bitterness is disputed - see comments below].
It's impossible to answer these questions one way or another. Whether written through an unwillingness to push himself or to provoke his new public, it's fair to say that this novel marks a break from the development of style and procedure that had characterised the author's output to this point.
February 16, 2017
.
A very enjoyable detective story as usual from this author. I thought I had read them all but seeing the list I see I have missed some so will catch up with them.
A very enjoyable detective story as usual from this author. I thought I had read them all but seeing the list I see I have missed some so will catch up with them.
December 25, 2016
The Kemp family has lived in its family home for 500+ years, but now the house is decaying and the current Kemp seems to have no luck in either saving the house or saving the people in it. Roger’s first wife drowned in a tragic accident some six years earlier, and now his second wife has gone missing; meanwhile, his grown children seem to mope about unable to turn their hands to anything. When another corpse shows up, Chief Superintendent Wycliffe is drawn into the relationships of this dysfunctional family, and he must solve the case before tragedy strikes yet again…. I raced through this one, mainly because I had a cold while reading it and when I have a cold I spend a lot of time reading; I guessed the identity of the killer fairly early on, but enjoyed Wycliffe’s process of getting to the answer just the same. Mildly recommended.
January 19, 2015
Having seen the tv series many years ago, (and again more recently on ITV3) I was looking forward to this book and was not disappointed. The characters of the principal family are well drawn and the mystery has the usual twists and turns.
Wycliffe himself, though, and Lane and Kersey are rather undeveloped. There is very little of the probing of the psychology of the detectives nor much mention of their private lives which most contemporary murder mysteries explore. Tale well told though.
I listened to this on Audible and I see that the only other Wycliffe books in audible are abridged - which is a pity, though they are read by Jack Shepherd who played Wycliffe on the TV: but generally I find abridged books in satisfying.
Wycliffe himself, though, and Lane and Kersey are rather undeveloped. There is very little of the probing of the psychology of the detectives nor much mention of their private lives which most contemporary murder mysteries explore. Tale well told though.
I listened to this on Audible and I see that the only other Wycliffe books in audible are abridged - which is a pity, though they are read by Jack Shepherd who played Wycliffe on the TV: but generally I find abridged books in satisfying.
May 15, 2015
If you are looking for flowing lyrical descriptions of Cornwall or if you are looking to enjoy a master of logical prose you are on to a loser with Burley. If you want a curl up in front of the fire with a beer or a mug of tea and enjoy the unfolding of a decent plot with a cast of characters and an author who are struggling to keep up with changing conventions then the Wycliffe novels are good entertainment. I'm a fan of the actor Jack Shepherd, who played Wycliffe, and for once, having a face and voice in your head is useful. Shepherd's troubled and puzzled delivery is perfectly suited to this policeman who is going, eventually, to need a great deal of counselling....Damnit! He's got a good wife and in Burley's world that's what the little woman is there for.
March 5, 2011
Wycliffe is on holiday in Cornwall with his wife and he becomes interested in the intriguing Kemp family of Kellycoryk. Roger Kemp's first wife was lost at sea after a boating accident and now his second wife is missing. A very dysfunctional family and the ending wasn't quite what I expected.
September 24, 2012
Good solid mystery/suspense read. Wycliffe takes a vacation and becomes embroiled in small-town crime. A rather dysfunctional family and some clever plot twists, along with good character building made for an excellent read.
October 13, 2014
Enjoyed the setting and the odd characters that can be found in old English houses. Just like those I met in the English villages that I lived in. I have had these books for some time and now that I am not at work I am enjoying reading them.
September 4, 2016
Gentle yet gripping and I honestly didn't see the end coming!
Maybe my detecting skills are getting a little slow or maybe this is just a very well written mystery.
I've always held John Rebus as my favourite detective but Charles Wycliffe is now an understated contender
Maybe my detecting skills are getting a little slow or maybe this is just a very well written mystery.
I've always held John Rebus as my favourite detective but Charles Wycliffe is now an understated contender
October 5, 2009
A good, though not a really great, Wycliffe.
June 30, 2024
Excellent relaxing read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews