Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat

Wycliffe #2

by W.J. Burley

Another classic crime novel featuring Cornwall's Superintendent Wycliffe. The girl was young, with auburn hair arranged on the pillow. Wycliffe could almost believe she was asleep - that is, until he saw her face. She had been strangled, and someone had brutally smashed her face - but after death, not before... She lay in a seedy hotel room down by the docks, but her luggage, her clothes and her make-up all suggested she had more class than her surroundings. Superintendent Wycliffe was officially on holiday, but the case fascinated him. Who was the girl? Why was she lying naked in a shabby hotel room? What was she doing with a thousand pounds hidden underneath some clothing? And, above all, why had someone mutilated her after she was dead? As Wycliffe begins to investigate, he finds there are too many suspects, too many motives - and too many lies . . .

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Police

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Burley 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.

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detective-Chief Superintendent Wycliffe can’t take a nice vacation with his wife except someone gets murdered, the local police find out he’s in town, and ask for his help. And pity poor Mrs Wycliffe, for her husband is glad of it…not that a girl was strangled in a cheap transient hotel and her face battered in, but that he now has something to do, something more than innocent seaside diversions to occupy his time. Like the form of this mystery (published in 1970), Wycliffe is very British and very traditional. He follows the clues, makes the connections in his head using intuition and logic, and applies his upper middle class mores both to the crime and to the suspects. It never occurs to him that there might be an underlying justification to the crime, that the girl might have played some role in her own destruction. Also, as fits his pragmatic point of view, the girl’s murder serves a higher purpose…yes, the murder itself must be solved and the murderer brought to justice, but if it can also be used to shatter the goals of other villains and land them in the chokey, so much the better. Although Wycliffe has occasional brushes with romanticism, his general demeanor is unsympathetic and his approach to crime as utilitarian as his approach to life. I find Wycliffe a very satisfying protagonist for a British mystery because of his demeanor and approach, because he focuses on the solution to the mystery and is rarely distracted by victims’ situations. With a Wycliffe novel, I can rely on finding an elevated intellectual puzzle in an interesting setting and peopled by fully formed characters. “To Kill a Cat” lives up to those expectations.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few of the Superintendent Wycliffe mysteries and enjoyed. This is the second in the series and finds Wycliffe on vacation with his wife, Helen at the coast. While there he gets involved in investigating a murder in a hotel by the waterfront. He's an interesting character, is Superintendent Wycliffe, likes to use his instincts more than criminal analyses of the CSI vein. As we delve into the story and find out more about the woman who was murdered and what she's been involved in and the people around her, the story becomes a nicely complex puzzle. I enjoyed it very much and am glad that I refreshed my acquaintance with Wycliffe. Nice ending too. 4 stars.

[Janette Townend · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic police procedural with lots of good detective work from Superintendent Wycliffe. He should have been enjoying a quiet holiday with his wife in Cornwall but his wife is well used to his inability to resist a mystery, so after he pops into the station to pay a courtesy call on a colleague she is not really surprised to find that he has offered his services to oversee a new murder case. A mystery girl who has no face and has been found naked in a shabby hotel room, her clothing and luggage suggesting she was more used to classier surroundings.

The case fascinates Wycliffe and lots of suspects and motives emerge to muddy the waters and while I had my suspicions I was not expecting the ending.

[Greyling54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting plot and I found it difficult to predict who was responsible. The ending was also quite unusual for a mystery.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrasts markedly with the first Wycliffe outing (the magificently titled '3-toed Pussy'), it had me wondering if the author would make feline references in all future titles (he didn't). While the previous tale had a certain English cosiness to it - the runners and riders in the whodunnit stakes were self-selecting, to be found in a single stable - 'How to kill a cat', is a very different beast ... and a decidedly superior one.
First published in 1970, in a world which was still a slave to tobacco, Burley makes frequent references to his hero lighting a pipe. An English audience might be inclined to associate a pipe-smoking detective with Sherlock Holmes, I'd compare Wycliffe to Maigret and, in this book at least, Burley's writing is on a par with Simenon's (and that's high praise). Even Wycliffe's wife echoes Madame Maigret.
Setting and location play a prominent role. There are times in this tale where Wycliffe's peregrinations around the seaside town reminded me of Maigret prowling the seedier areas of Paris. There's nothing cosy about this tale - it's beautifully written, evoking an ugly world. Wycliffe's an acerbic character who can growl, who can get a bit catty, but who listens to people. He understands the local criminal 'underworld', understands few people have access to a private income, few people live in stately homes and have butlers, understands that crime reflects poverty, strain, conflict, emotion, bad luck and complex circumstances, that there can be both simple material reasons for a crime ... and complex psychology behind it.
Burley uses language to create character - he can describe a room with economy, pick out a couple of pieces of furniture ... and you can start to imagine the sort of person who lives there (and my apologies if this sounds like a parody of some grotesque TV panel game). You can hear the sounds of the room, can imagine the daily routines it witnesses ... your imagination can inhabit it like pipe smoke, getting into every crook and granny.
A first class tale, a really enjoyable read. [And for those of you familiar with the TV Wycliffe, the written Wycliffe is a very different creature - I enjoyed Jack Shepherd's portrayal of the detective, the written characters (at least in the first two books) are very different.]

[Bron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an early outing for Wycliffe, I was, in fact, surprised to discover it was set in 1969, and also written about then, because it doesn't feel dated. There's no mention of computers or mobile phones but somehow I didn't notice that. The giveaway was mention of the Moon landing on the news.

Wycliffe is on holiday with his wife, but doesn't get to enjoy it for long as paying a courtesy call to the local police station gets him embroiled in a brutal murder case. You do get the feeling he enjoys having a case even though he abhors murder, he says later in the book that there's no redemption for murderers.

It's a quiet and reflective story in spite of the initial brutality of the killing. It's almost like strolling around inside Wycliffe's mind while he gathers the information he needs He doesn't seem to use logic to reach his decision, it's more as though the answers coalesce out of the miasma of information after he's let it all swoosh around in his head for long enough.

The landscape and scenery always seem to complement Wycliffe's thoughts, and the author's descriptions of a British holiday resort in British holiday weather are spot on and delightful.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superintendent Wycliffe is supposed to be on holiday with his unusually tolerant wife. Nonetheless, he pops in to the police station for a courtesy visit and finds himself assigned the strangling and mutilation death of a beautiful young woman. So much for the holiday — but our hero is much happier working a tough tangled case than sitting quietly by the seashore. The only question is who done it and why?

Rarely does a book that starts so badly recover so nicely. Obviously, the author had read a lot of Maigret, and thought to imitate the series and the style. Short sentences. Lots of dialogue. Simple vocabulary that would fit a young adult book. Then…he just stops with the imitating. The detective gets his own personality. Paragraphs expand to normal lengths. And the characters develop believable lives (if tinged with some circa 1970 misogyny and bad hair). Good ending that suggests better books to come

[Emelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written in the 60's and it shows. The language is a bit old fashioned, a lot of concepts are dated and what is WJB's thing with manipulative women? It's his second book and both involve women who manipulate men. I also feel like a lot was left unexplained, there were almost too many people and they didn't quite all connect together properly. It's possible WJB was just finding his feet at this point. So I wouldn't mind reading more books. I've seen the TV series and I'm curious about the differences, the likenesses, why only some books were adapted, others not. So far I'm much preferring the screen version of the character, but it's always worth exploring the original material.

[Millstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very silly. To try to be fair, it's an early one in the series so he's probably still finding his feet and fitting it around his day job; also, it's fifty years old and times have changed. Perhaps Falmouth was littered with strip clubs, prostitutes and people who called police officers 'copper'. Feminism may only have been in its infancy. Men may have landed on the moon. But I can't believe that even then Detective Chief Superintendents interviewed suspects and witnesses and did door to door: it's a step too far for me.

[Mardi D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed meeting Wycliffe and enjoyed the story. I must admit though, I didn't quite get how the title fits with the story. I also don't understand why some people think it's "dated". Well duh!!! It was written over 50 years ago so why expect it to be modern. It fits well with the time it was written. In my reading I like to be transported to a different time and place and this one did that for me.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍷🍷🍷
First of the Wycliife tales I’ve read, after all these years. I will definitely pursue other titles in the series; there is a certain depth and pace to the story, and the ancillary characters are at least as interesting as the main “dramatis personae.” Over half a century later, the book isn’t dated, rather it calls up a time and place in a very intriguing (dare I say attractive?) way, and one wants to revisit it again. I shall.

[Thejelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Wycliffe (the 2nd in the series in fact) and, while it is clear that Burley had hit on a good character for his eponymous detective and could certainly develop a plot, the writing style is simple but adorned by way too many exclamation marks, which can be a bit distracting after a while. Solid, rather standard police procedural.

[Kacper Nedza · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.25 stars) A top tier Wycliffe. The characterization is very on point. As a sidenote, I cannot think of another crime writer from Burley's generation, especially a male one, who is as sympathetic to sex workers as him.

[Rob Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Wycliffe mystery. Effective atmosphere and plotting. Keep in mind this was published in 1970 and has a noir feel blended with a police procedural set around the time of the moon landing.

[Mandy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Wycliffe book! So many suspects and not a simple murder. It was interesting picking through all the threads of the case with Wycliffe,I like him as a detective and I’m not completely sure who the killer is until the end.

[Myshelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wycliffe series of books are very old and without the modern technology in today's crime series.
I still enjoy these quick reads. There was also a television series.

[Denise Gossow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike Golden Age detective books this hasn't aged well. Its from 1970 and it is quite dated. However, having said that it was reasonably enjoyable and I will probably read others in the series.

[Mark Rudd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow moving and dated.

[Yves Lefevre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. Very good plot. The characters are quite convincing.

[Annette O'grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good read

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this a little laboured, probably won't bother with another Wycliffe.

[Alice Teets · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books were written in the 1970s, but I had never heard of them. A mix of Agatha Christie and MC Beaton, this book features Superintendent Wycliffe, a chief superintendent who would rather be out gathering clues than sitting in an office and trusts his instinct more than meticulous notes. I definitely recommend, although this was written before PC was a thing, so don't complain about that later.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat is the second novel in a series by W. J. Burley, written in the 1970s. Detective Chief Superintendent Wycliffe is ostensibly on holiday with his wife, at an unnamed Cornish resort town, but he feels it only fitting that he should drop in on the local police station to say hello. As it happens, a young woman has just been found murdered and disfigured, and the local Chief Superintendent is on sick leave due to ulcers, so naturally Wycliffe agrees to look into the case. It takes some time to identify the victim, who turns out to be the very young wife of a local businessman; but the woman had left her husband a couple of years previously and seemed to have fallen in with a bad crowd. There is, in any event, no shortage of suspects, and Wycliffe must mingle with these unsavory people in order to learn the truth.... This is a fun series, one that I only recently discovered. Wycliffe is a complicated person who doesn't have much use for plodding detail work in his job; he believes that he must personally get to know the victims he encounters in order to solve their murders, and so while he leaves the traditional police work to his subordinates, he tends to go off on his own, feeling his way into the lives of the victims. The Cornish setting is lovely and contrasts very nicely with the grit and grime of the criminal worlds that Wycliffe investigates. There's certainly some sexism here, but one must keep in mind the times in which it was written; I didn't let it bother me, because of that. Recommended.

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Inspector Wycliffe series this was another good read (pun intended). A young lady in a seedy hotel has been strangled and then had her face bashed in. Wycliffe is on holiday in the area and takes charge of the case. The question quickly becomes did one person or two people do this deed, and why. Especially why the after death bashing. Our young lady turns out to have had a rather interesting past so the question becomes one of was this death due to her past or for some other reason. Add to this the fact a wanted convict who may have know the girl is heading this way for some reason, the owners of a local drinking establishment who have something to hide and a husband several years older and who has a domineering mother and a devoted aunt. Enough complications here to entice any mystery reader. Of course we do have a resolution to the mystery so all is well, maybe. Recommended.

[John Toffee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second in the Wycliffe series and another book that's worth spending a bit of time on to apss away a few free hours.
Nice series if albeit containing situations and story lines that seem from a time long since gone.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took off a point because this is the the second book in the series and the second murder victim who is a young, sexy, manipulative minx. I should have know because of the word "cat" in the title.