Devil’s Work

by Margaret Yorke

First published in 1982 and now reissued, the story of a man who befriends a waif-like little girl and her widowed mother, and who becomes the prime suspect when a hideous and sordid crime is committed. By the author of THE HAND OF DEATH, SERIOUS INTENT and FULL CIRCLE.

‘Margaret Yorke knows all about human weakness and follies, vanities and ambitions, as well as about that rarer phenomenon, real, unadultrerated evil’ Susan Hill

‘The mistress of the skillfully spun suspense novel’ Sunday Telegraph

‘No crime writer compares in extracting unease, fear and evil from such placid surfaces’ The Times

‘Nobody does it better’ Daily Telegraph

‘Her admirers prefer Margaret Yorke to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell . . . If you are not yet a fan, you are in for a treat’ Evening Standard

‘Yorke has an extraordinary feel for the passions that lurk beneath unremarkable facades’ Sunday Times


‘Bona fide, edge-of-the-chair suspense’ Publishers Weekly

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Margaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.

Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.

During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.

She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.

Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.

She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.

Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.

Margaret Yorke died in 2012.

Reviews

[Ana Batista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorei a forma como a autora mistura o mistério com os detalhes da vida do quotidiano. O modo como escreve prende-nos às personagens e à história e faz-nos apaixonar por Tessa. O segundo livro da autora que leio. Vou voltar a esta autora, sem dúvida.

[Elizabeth F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy all of Margaret Yorke's books almost without exception. Yorke blends psychological suspense with the quotidian detail of the lives of everyday people in a way that I like better than Ruth Rendell. The stories are always short and well paced, and at the same time you can't help but feel sympathy for the central characters. You understand why they do the (sometimes stupid) things that they do. In Devil's Work, Alan Parker does just such a thoughtless thing when he fails to tell his wife that he's been laid off from his job at an engineering firm where he'd worked for nearly 25 years. The unlooked-for spare time on his hands sets off a chain of events that are classic Margaret Yorke-style drama -- drama that's completely convincing. If you haven't read Margaret Yorke, give her a try!

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another good read by Margaret Yorke. There's never any gore, and rarely any major violence (perhaps the occasional dead body) but I enjoy her mystery thrillers very much. They always include common folk in England who get wrapped up in sine sort of issue. I thought from the blurb on the back that Alan would be charged with the disappearance of Tessa. But he was only questioned about the difference in his tale and the one from Louise, Tessa's mum.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful little girl, a crazy old woman and ordinary people trying to cope with the unexpected twists and turns of life. This then is the basis of this book. I've been thinking about why I enjoy Margaret Yorke's books so much. Then it occurred to me. The characters and the stories are so memorable they are not easily forgotten. The stories proceed at a careful pace, but as they develop there are always twists that keep the reader hooked. Needless to say, I loved this book and if truth be known, I have yet to read a book by Margaret Yorke that I haven't enjoyed. Luckily, even though she passed away in 2012, she wrote 47 books, so I'll have good books to read for quite a while.

[Nona · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Margaret Yorke books are good! Psychological thriller. Stories of characters and how their lives intersect.

[Jean Cairns · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really entertaining read

A very underrated thriller\crime writer. You want to know more about her characters even when the book finishes. Definitely unputdownable.

[Barbara Messenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margaret Yorke is the best. Every one of her books are great and I’ve read many of them. Each book very well written with well-defined characters and memorable plot .

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly matter-of-fact story of a man who loses his job but can't tell his wife. In an attempt to cope with this, he maintains a domestic fiction, whereby he leaves the house each morning and pretends all is well and that he's off to work. Chance encounters and an attempt to cope with his problems lead him to befriend a woman (Louise) with social anxiety. Things spiral out of control when a convicted child killer, who lives downstairs, decides that Louise's daughter should be spared suffering the effects of her mother's loose morals.

Margaret Yorke's unemotional style hides an intelligent study of dysfunctional family and personal relationships and their long-term impacts.


© Koplowitz 2022

[Nancy DeValve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was at my parent's house for a visit. Because I flew, I didn't take much along to read, so I chose a book from their shelves that I could read in five days. This was a good choice as it is fairly short and was hard to put down.
Margaret Yorke's story here is not really a murder mystery because you know all along who is going to do it. But how it is going to happen, why it is going to happen, and whether or not it will actually happen is all very suspenseful.
It was a good light read.

[Rebecca Hock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable read written by Margaret Yorke.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uncomplicated easy read.

[Manela · Rating 3 out of 5]

É bom. Não é deslumbrante, mas lê-se muito bem esta história policial.

[The Wee Hen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan has lost his job but can't bring himself to tell his very busy wife who has very little time for him amongst her golf and bridge games. He spends his days at the library and cinema and the park filling up the hours. He meets a rather neglected little girl and her miserable mother and gets drawn into their lives. A neighbour of theirs, meanwhile, watches this relationship and decides that this wicked mother needs to be taught a lesson about women who dabble with strange men and pay no mind to their child. Good thriller here.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have sworn that the man who came into the little girl's life was going to turn out to be a pervert. How wrong I was