Surfeit of Suspects

Chief Inspector Littlejohn #41

by George Bellairs, Martin Edwards (Introduction)

‘At 8 o’clock in the evening on the 8th November, there was a terrific explosion in Green Lane, Evingden.’
The offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company have been blown to smithereens and three of the company directors lie dead amongst the rubble. When the presence of dynamite is revealed, Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is summoned to the scene. Beneath the sleepy veneer of Evingden lies a hotbed of deep-rooted grievances. The new subject of the town’s talk, Littlejohn’s investigation is soon confounded by an impressive cast of suspicious persons, each concealing their own axe to grind.
First published in 1964, Bellairs’ novel of small-town grudges with explosive consequences remains a gripping masterpiece of misdirection.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Classics, British Literature, Mystery Thriller, Procedural

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

AKA Hilary Landon
George Bellairs is the nom de plume of Harold Blundell, a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the series' detective Inspector Littlejohn. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon.

Reviews

[Anissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this reissue from British Crime Classics. I have read others with Inspector Littlejohn (here he's now a Superintendent) and enjoyed them so it was nice to check in with him again. This is quintessential police procedural and I enjoyed reading along trying to figure out who actually did the murders. Three of five directors are blown up during a meeting

The title didn't lie. Every single person connected to the Excelsior Joinery Company had a motive and that made for quite the puzzle. Only one was guilty of murder but all of the players were guilty of misdeeds and dishonesty to varying degrees. Just about every one of the people Superintendent Littlejohn or Inspector Cromwell tried to ask for information stonewalled and threatened them. None of them seemed much interested in who had murdered three of the five trustees and that also made for an interesting read. There's an aspect of the business plot that rivalled the best LLC-type shuffle to obscure the true owner that I've read in a while which pulled the Fraud Squad into the investigation. The descriptions and character foibles were well done and memorable. I admit to laughing a fair bit. The main focus of the murder plot was so crooked I can't imagine how he could possibly have ever walked in a straight line. And my highest accolades go to Mrs. Sandman for handling her daughter Bella (a complete mess of a farce of a woman). Well done.

This one took me a bit longer to read than usual but every time I put it down, I thought about it and couldn't wait to get back. I'd had a very busy series of days so I'd say that if I hadn't this would have been a quick read. It was quite the page-turner all the way up to the last. I had my suspicions about the killer but I was never quite sure and while the reveal wasn't a complete surprise I hadn't settled on them solidly. I enjoyed that. Bellairs made a great puzzle and I look forward to reading another.

Recommended.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Edwards, in the introduction, describes Bellairs as "lowkey". This is correct.

Edwards tries to contrast this with the start of this novel having an explosion kill three men and how it is "dramatic as any thrill seeker could wish for." To what degree this is correct, it is mostly by technicality.

This is a very slow, methodical mystery novel told largely in a growing series of complaints and reminisces. Everyone has something to say and many of them take a few pages to say it. The few "thrill seeking" moments - the explosion, a somewhat dramatic suicide, a fist-fight that ends up with someone in the hospital, etc - happen almost entirely off page, narrated in a fraction of the time that Bellairs spends having a fourth or fifth witness describe the commercial arrangements of a failing joinery. The concept of world-building through concentric complaints is not unique to this novel - Midsomer Murders has made many an episode with this as a plot scaffolding - but somehow it feels more bare, here, less cushioned by glitter.

This is not to say that this is a bad book. I enjoyed it much like a long quiet walk. It was contemplative.

It is spoiled a bit by the fact that so many pages were spent carefully laying out evidence all for the final "detective accuses suspect in front of witnesses scene" to come down, essentially, to a hunch and self-admitted circumstantial evidence. This is perhaps a flaw of all such novels, though, that the mystery must be solved by some leap of logic because otherwise the reader is given too much information or the author willfully obscures the plot to keep the reader in the dark. Bellairs took perhaps the least offensive of paths. Letting those that guessed to have their day, while those who did not could be - a little, at least - amazed.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this 41st novel in the series featuring Detective Superintendent (formerly Inspector) Thomas Littlejohn and his serious sidekick, Sergeant Robert Cromwell. A blast kills three of five directors of the nearly bankrupt Excelsior Joinery Company (woodworking factory, for us Yanks). A fourth dies in the same week. And the police face a true surfeit of suspects: nearly everyone connected had a motive.

I’d had been unable to get a George Bellairs book in a while, and I’m so pleased that I finally got the chance with this book that had more twists and turns than most.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

When finally find out what real twisted plot is you be supprise, I found it different from Bellairs other books which just goes to show what blood good writer he was.
Set in the early 60s of when had Steptoe on the TV this has all feel of old ladies from Arsnic and old lace than the Beatles. Gas lights and dynamite with the modern growth of new towns. It has the rich hummer with puns in it a true classic crime.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big bang...

A huge explosion destroys the offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company, and kills three directors of the company who were there having a meeting at the time. When it turns out that the cause of the explosion was dynamite, the local police call in Scotland Yard to investigate. Enter Inspector Littlejohn...

It soon becomes apparent that the Excelsior was in deep financial trouble and bankruptcy was waiting impatiently in the wings. Could the crime have been an elaborate insurance job? As Littlejohn begins to investigate, he discovers this is only one possible motive. Fraud and corruption are contenders too, and more personal motives may have played a part, since it seems that there were many tensions between the directors, not least that one of them was having an affair with the wife of another. Every line of enquiry seems to turn up more suspects and Littlejohn will have to do some nifty detection to catch the right one.

The setting is very well done, both of the struggling business itself and of the expanding town around it. First published in 1964, fictional Evingden is shown as one of the “new towns” that were created in the decades after WW2, partly to replace bombed out homes and partly to provide “overspill” housing to alleviate the problem of overpopulated areas of poverty and deprivation. It’s no surprise that with so much money being spent this was also a time noted for corruption in local councils and the construction trade, and Bellairs makes full use of this in his plot. The new towns tended to be tacked on to existing small towns or villages, changing their culture and often moving their centres from the old high streets to new developments, much to the annoyance of existing tenants and business owners. Bellairs catches these tensions nicely through his portrayal of the local bank, with its sleepy old branch and tired manager struggling to keep going in the old part of town and the modern, thrusting new branch with its ambitious young manager looking to corner all the new, lucrative business for himself.

Unfortunately I didn’t find the characters or their motivations as interesting as the setting. We never meet the victims while they’re alive, so only learn about them through other people and, of the three, only one is really fully developed and he’s unlikeable in the extreme. The suspects are better drawn, but are also a deeply unattractive bunch of people. The result was that I didn’t much care about any of them and never found myself fully invested in the criminal being brought to justice. Also, and this is simply an individual preference, I’m never as interested in plots that go so deeply into fraud and corruption as this one, preferring crimes where the motives are more personal. Bellairs does it well, showing how financial desperation can lead people to go off the rails, but I felt it got a bit bogged down in detail at points.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but not as much as the previous Littlejohn stories I’ve read, purely because the story wasn’t as much to my taste. I did feel Littlejohn himself was better developed as a character in this one though, and will be happy to meet him again. Since this is apparently the 41st Littlejohn book, I’ve got plenty more to try! 3 ½ stars for me, so rounded up.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.

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[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The growing town of Evingden is rocked by explosion one November evening. It blasts the windows out of shops and houses and completely destroys the offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company, as well as reducing the number of directors from five to two in one fell swoop. When the arson experts get done investigating, it's clear that someone has used dynamite to blow up the building. Did someone have it in for the company--or these particular directors? Or maybe it was more personal and two of the men were caught in a plot aimed at only one of them? Chief Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is dispatched to get to the bottom of the mystery. He discovers that the company was in deep financial trouble and that the directors' had sunk everything they had into trying to save it. He also discovers that a life insurance policy taken out on one of the victims (with their lending bank as beneficiary) will save the company from ruin. Could that be the motive? But as he and Inspector Cromwell keep digging, they unearth more skeletons in the Evingden closets. And one of them was definitely worth killing for.

Surfeit: (noun) an excessive amount of something

I hate to disagree with an author and all, but there really isn't an excessive amount of suspects here (despite the description of the plot above). Honestly, there aren't that many suspects that one can take seriously once we really start examining the supposed motives. That would be one of the major reasons this is a three-star book and not four (or more). While there are plenty of less-than-desirable characters wandering around, it seemed pretty obvious who the main suspect was--though I did find it a bit baffling (for quite some time) how s/he got their hands on the dynamite. But Bellairs explains that nicely. The ending is a bit weak as well, with Littlejohn bluffing his way through a confrontation and the culprit conveniently having a stroke to indicate his/her guilt.

I still enjoy Littlejohn's character and it was interesting to follow him and Cromwell about in their investigation. And it's well worth the price of admission to watch Littlejohn's exchange with the Fraud Squad personnel. Overall, a solid, though less mystifying entry in the Littlejohn exploits.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Littlejohn investigates an explosion at the Excelsior factory which has killed three directors of the company. He finds numerous personal and professional motives for the killing of John Willie Dodd, but the other two directors seem well-liked, so he must cast his enquiries wider and look into the background of those involved with the failing company.

Entertaining mystery with a fairly complicated but well constructed plot, and an interesting cast of characters. Littlejohn is cast in the mould of the traditional detective, and his persistent and patient probing moves the narrative along smoothly. There are some dashes of humour, and a dramatic meeting at the end when the solution is revealed.

This is a satisfying series that reminds me of another of my favourites, the Bobby Owen series by E. R. Punshon, and I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another financial mystery from the British library crime Classics collection, this one from 1964. Perhaps because of the later setting, this one was not as engaging.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gem from BL. My first littlejohn story, I am sure it won't be the last

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Bellairs' writing style. It is breezy and light with lots of dry humor. His characterizations are concise and complete; I felt I knew even the most minor players. Good plot as Bellairs uses his banking background.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the later Inspector Littlejohn investigations, dating from 1964.

Generally, I find these later works are not as strong as those from the '40s and '50s and this proved to be no exception. Often, too, the novels set solely in England, as this is, with no forays to France or the Isle of Man, are less interesting.

Bellairs here is in familiar territory with the plot encompassing corruption in local government, shady business practices, and a dodgy bank manager.

The book starts with a bang, three directors of a joinery business being blown up while at a clandestine meeting. The story thereafter was not very convoluted, and the perpetrator and motive were not too difficult to discern. There are a few flashes of humour, but, overall I thought this rather dull.

Martin Edwards' Introduction has some points of interest, but again he seems somewhat lukewarm about the author's talents- perhaps with justification in this case.

Not Bellairs at his best, but still very readable and enjoyable.

3.5 stars.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

by George Bellairs


Finish date: 12.11.2024
Genre: CF
Rating: A
Reading time: 5 hours

Bad News: None...I loved the book from cover to cover!

Good News: The writing is close to the bone, stuff that doesn’t flinch.
The narrative is complicated (financial schemes) and there were plenty of emotionally loaded scenes.
George Bellair's strong point was his use of atmospheric detail and dialogues that sharpen the focus on one character then on another. I asked the question over and over: Whodunnit?

Personal: I'm not one for CF or mystery but this book was the exception! G. Bellairs is indeed a writer who has fallen off the radar but if you are looking for a great piece of sleuthing, Superintendent Littlejohn is the man to meet!

[Adam Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still cogitating over my thoughts on this one, but I’d give it somewhere between a 3 and a 4 star.

It’s a very different kind of Bellairs - an explosion killing 3 company directors, a myriad of (slightly confusing) financial shenanigans, corrupt town officials and some stolen dynamite, all investigated by Superintendent Littlejohn.

Written in the 60s, this is a clearly more modern whodunnit. It’s certainly not the closed circle crime read of the 30S. Overall I enjoyed, but it wasn’t what I was expecting!

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggests, when dynamite blows up the Excelsior Joinery Company, killing three of its directors, there are almost too many suspects - and motives. This 1964 novel has a good range of well-rounded characters, a range of believable motives, and a traditional Golden-Age style denouement. What it did not have was a convincing sense of time and place - the setting felt more 1930s than 1960s apart from the occasional references to 'teddy boys' and one comment about a woman wearing jeans - and because the feel was so 1930s, these phrases just felt jarring and out of place instead of helping to set the scene. Every time 'the war' was referred to, I had to remind myself that Bellairs was referring to the second world war, not the first one.

A good read, but I prefer his novels that are set in an earlier decade. If you're new to his work, don't start with this one!

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Bellairs was a bank manager who wrote a ridiculous amount of crime fiction in his spare time. In "Surfeit of Suspects", he introduces us to some other bank managers, as well as further suspects connected with a corporate explosion. I'm not sure it's accurate to say there's a "surfeit" of suspects, but the investigation is still very enjoyable.

[Calum Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

B-:

Not particularly juicy and very business-centric, but well worked on the whole. Bellairs could definitely have made more of the question of who was the intended victim and laid out the potential suspects/motives in a clearer way.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid mystery that shows Bellairs knowledge of banking and corporation practices. Not as funny as some of his stories but the people are quite as nasty either.

[Janet Emson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There has been an explosion in a joinery factory and Inspector Littlejohn and his colleague Cromwell find themselves overrun with suspects.

All of the suspects are not particularly likeable and all have possible motives for blowing up the factory, and killing three people in the process. There’s the wronged husband, the pugnacious father-in-law and the disgruntled business associate. The trouble is not finding out who had a motive, but narrowing down those that did.

This was the first Inspector Littlejohn novel I have read, though I am a fan of British Library Crime Classics. There is something wonderfully transporting about the series and this book was no different. I’ve read very few books written in the 1960s but I could easily envisage the location and characters depicted here.

The British Library Crime Classics refer back to a time before DNA analysis, blood spatter experts and CSI teams. They rely on detection to find the culprit, a trail of clues left for the reader, and ultimately the protagonist, to follow and deduce.

This is very much a character led book. We see motive after motive, delving into the background of the victims and those who may have wanted them dead. The thought process of the police, their deduction techniques, almost comes in second place. Some clues are kept close to the author’s chest, being revealed almost at the same time as the denouement, done perhaps, to try and make the revelation of the culprit a surprise.

There is something cosy and comforting about this book, and indeed all of the books from the series I have read. For me this is a very good thing and one which attracts me to the books. From the beautiful artwork that adorns the covers to that sense of control and the righting of wrongs in the story that follows, there is something infinitely fascinating when reading a genre as seen in the past.

It is always a pleasure to be transported back in time by the British Library and their crime classics series. This sojourn to the 60s with Inspector Littlejohn was an enjoyable one.

Perfect for a rainy day or two, I enjoyed cosying up to work out whodunnit.I have more George Bellairs on my bookshelves and look forward to reading them soon.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tra i luoghi più gettonati per commettere un bel delitto, meglio se truculento e ben congegnato, vi è sicuramente il tipico villaggio inglese. Questo ambiente idillico, dominato dal silenzio e contornato da bei paesaggi, in cui tutti si conoscono per nome e il pettegolezzo è la testata giornalistica più influente, sembra infatti aver attirato nella storia del giallo classico un nugolo interminabile di assassini, che, con uno o più cadaveri, hanno rovinato brutalmente le premesse arcadiche dell'ambientazione. E proprio qui sta il fascino: un ambiente aperto ma ristretto, eterogeneo ma familiare, più dinamico di una villa isolata ma anche meno dispersivo di uno sfondo urbano, e dunque ideale per intrighi, odi e triangoli amorosi nascosti, ma tanto chiacchierati da arrivare sottilmente alle orecchie del lettore, che spesso sono alla base degli istinti più brutali.
Regina incontrastata dei "countryside mysteries" è sicuramente Agatha Christie, che ne ha fatto una sorta di marchio di fabbrica, specie nella saga con Miss Marple, ma anche altri autori si sono lasciati influenzare da tale tendenza, come Carr, Rhode, Crofts, e soprattutto George Bellairs, autore poco conosciuto che si specializzò proprio in gialli ambientati nelle piccole realtà cittadine dell'Inghilterra.

George Bellairs era lo pseudonimo di Harold Blundell. Nato nel Lancashire nel 1912, prima di intraprendere la carriera letteraria, Blundell era un manager bancario a Manchester, professione che manterrà nonostante il discreto successo delle sue opere. Bellairs cominciò a scrivere a gialli a partire dal 1941, con "Littlejohn on Leave", in cui introdusse il suo detective principale, il sovrintendente Littlejohn di Scotland Yard, continuando fino agli anni '70, nonostante la moda per il mystery classico fosse ormai sfumata. Morì nel 1982.
Tra le sue opere, spesso caratterizzate da pittoresche ambientazioni e da una caratterizzazione frizzante e umoristica dei personaggi, una tra quelle che meglio esemplifica il suo peculiare stile è "Surfeit of Suspects" (1964).

"Surfeit of Suspects" è un romanzo molto gradevole, di stampo classicamente britannico, in cui all'attenta cura nella delineazione di ambienti e nella descrizione ironica dei personaggi si affianca una parte gialla di chiara ispirazione croftsiana, tendente al procedural.

La trama inizia col botto, letteralmente: alle otto di sera dell'8 novembre, nel piccolo paese di Evingden, gli uffici dell'Excelsior Joinery Company, ditta che si occupa di falegnameria, esplodono fragorosamente, con un boato immenso che scuote l'intero vicinato. Subito vengono chiamati i vigili del fuoco, i quali, cercando di domare le fiamme sprigionatesi, rinvengono tra le macerie tre cadaveri quasi irriconoscibili. Si tratta di tre dei cinque direttori dell'azienda, John Willie Dodd, Dick Fallows e Jack Robert Piper, che erano evidentemente impegnati in una riunione che si è poi rivelata fatale. Ad indagare sull'accaduto viene inviato l'ispettore Tattersall che tuttavia, dopo aver appurato che non si era trattato di un incidente dovuto ad un'eventuale fuoriuscita di gas, bensì di un deliberato attentato effettuato con uso di dinamite, non indugia a rivolgersi a Scotland Yard, rappresentata dalla figura del coscienzioso e solerte sovrintendente Littlejohn.
Quest'ultimo si pone subito all'opera per scoprire la verità, venendo a conoscenza di molti problemi nella ditta, che potrebbero essere stati la causa scatenante dell'evento criminoso: l'Excelsior, infatti, a detta di molti, si trova al momento in gravi condizioni economiche, con uno scoperto e debiti con la banca tali da rischiare la bancarotta. La ditta, fondata decenni addietro dal grande imprenditore Henry Jonas, molto redditizia durante la sua direzione, con la sua morte era passata nelle mani dell'allora segretario Tom Hoop, che si era successivamente messo in società con suo nipote Fred Hoop, l'ambizioso e avido Dodd e i due capireparto Fallows e Piper e da allora si era verificato un rapido declino nei profitti. La situazione, col passare degli anni, non era che peggiorata e le visite dei creditori erano all'ordine del giorno. I sospetti di Littlejohn si appuntano inizialmente sul giovane Hoop, che dice di non sapere nulla sulla riunione in atto al momento della deflagrazione. L'uomo, infatti, dalla morte di Dodd ricaverebbe i soldi della sua assicurazione, potendo così risanare parzialmente i suoi problemi. Ma è davvero andata così? In un'investigazione che si muoverà principalmente tra azioni bancarie, conti correnti e società fraudolente, Littlejohn ficcherà il naso in affari loschi che da tempo inquinano la quiete campestre di Evingden, scoprendo una fitta rete di corruzione, avidità e opportunismo. Tuttavia svegliare il famigerato cane che dorme può rivelarsi un'azione piuttosto pericolosa... e mortale.

"Surfeit of Suspects" è bel giallo classico in puro stile britannico, dall'andamento pacato e rilassante, nel quale si respira quell'atmosfera rurale, familiare e accogliente tipica dei romanzi della Golden Age, per quanto contaminata leggermente dall'avanzare di un'epoca nuova, più moderna e urbanizzata, che riflette i nuovi mutati gusti letterari nella narrativa di genere.

Strutturalmente il romanzo, nonostante un frenetico avvio all'americana, dritto al punto e poco digressivo, con l'esplosione che viene descritta nelle prime righe, s'imposta sulla scia dei mystery tradizionali, basando la totalità della narrazione sulle indagini ufficiali effettuate dal sovrintendente Littlejohn.
Il modello principale a cui Bellairs palesemente si accosta, sia a livello contenutistico, sia per quanto concerne il metodo investigativo del detective protagonista, è Crofts, grande giallista irlandese che, attraverso le sue opere con il bonario e zelante ispettore French, ha inaugurato un filone del mystery fondato su un approccio procedurale nell'affrontare i vari casi criminali.
Littlejohn infatti risolve l'enigma non attraverso perspicaci doti deduttive, ma attraverso la semplice routine poliziesca, fatta di continui interrogatori, di controlli dei movimenti dei sospetti e della veridicità delle loro affermazioni, di confronti delle testimonianze per scoprire eventuali incongruenze. Si tratta di una strada risolutiva costituita da un processo lento, per l'enorme numero di sospetti che si accumuleranno man mano, ma fruttuoso di tentativi, di prove e controprove frequenti, una tecnica pragmatica ed estremamente realistica che esalta il lavoro indefesso e certosino a discapito di un modello teorico ed eccessivamente raziocinante.
Conseguenza diretta di ciò è un grande dinamismo investigativo, dovuto alla necessità di consultare le varie figure, di porre loro questioni che possono rivelarsi fondamentali al disvelamento della verità. Littlejohn si ritrova dunque a compiere uno sforzo più fisico e motorio che prettamente mentale, confidando nel rendimento positivo che può scaturire dall'attenersi a regole precise e oggettive.
All'interno di questa ripresa di stilemi e movenze croftsiane, tuttavia, Bellairs immette elementi diversi, legati alla sua esperienza personale nel mondo bancario: infatti le ragioni che hanno portato il colpevole a far esplodere la sede dell'Excelsior risiedono in complessi aspetti economici e finanziari. Nel romanzo infatti si ricorre spesso ad una terminologia tecnica, muovendosi esso tra cambiali, conti corrente, società e fondi bancari, anche se tali aspetti intricati vengono abilmente illustrati dall'autore, rendendoli comprensibili anche al lettore non esperto in materia.

Bellairs si differenzia tuttavia da Crofts nello stile letterario: se infatti nelle opere di quest'ultimo, focalizzate essenzialmente sulla decostruzione di un crimine tramite una meticolosa routine investigativa da parte di un funzionario di polizia, la caratterizzazione dei personaggi e l'aspetto prettamente descrittivo non ricevono una grande attenzione, in quanto elementi non essenziali per l'autore, il cui scopo è fondamentalmente quello di costruire un enigma intricato e ben congegnato, in Bellairs vi è una particolare cura nella delineazione delle varie figure e degli ambienti, creando una cornice letteraria piacevole ed espressiva.
Alla sterilità narrativa croftsiana si contrappone qui uno stile ricco, pieno di humour britannico, attraverso cui i personaggi spiccano soprattutto nei loro difetti, rendendoli più credibili, più reali e facilmente riconoscibili.
Il campionario umano presente nell'opera, molto variegato, viene ben delineato dall'autore attraverso rapide ma acute pennellate, spesso utilizzando il sarcasmo per sfaccettare meglio le personalità e per dare colorito anche alle figure più piatte.

Un altro grande punto di forza di "Surfeit of Suspects" è sicuramente la suggestiva ambientazione nel villaggio di Evingden, che dona alla narrazione un'atmosfera gradevole, intima. Si respira infatti nel corso della storia quel clima tipico da paese, pieno di pettegolezzi e di chiacchiere finalizzate alla ricerca del nuovo e succoso scandalo.
Tuttavia questa cornice campestre, quasi idillica e incontaminata, è percorsa da un lieve eppur tangibile senso di decadenza: la vetusta cittadina di Evingden, come accadde a molti altri piccoli centri inglesi nel secondo dopoguerra, comincia a mutare sotto l'influsso della modernità che avanza. Il vecchio borgo, alla luce della costruzione di un nuovo assetto urbano, di un nuovo fulcro cittadino, appare ormai degradato, stantio, in decadenza, appartenente ad un periodo ormai lontano a cui non si può più tornare, fatto che rammenta molto la situazione descritta da Agatha Christie in "Assassinio allo specchio", con una St. Mary Mead in via di urbanizzazione. Questo cambiamento drastico ma graduale fa avvertire un senso vago di tristezza, di malinconia per un presente che progressivamente cancella le vestigia di un caro, nostalgico passato. Questa sensazione pervade anche i personaggi, così ancorati a quella città nel bene e nel male da risultare tristi, amari, in disfacimento tanto quanto gli immobili della vecchia parte del villaggio, ormai destinati ad essere acquistati da ditte edilizie per scopi di riqualificazione.
È il segno di un tramonto storico, culturale e sociale irreversibile, con cui forse l'autore ha voluto esplicitare simbolicamente anche la fine dell'epoca letteraria, ormai evanescente, del mystery tradizionale che, dopo i fastigi dei decenni precedenti, si avvia ad un inevitabile declino, cedendo il posto a nuove tendenze narrative, a nuovi interessi, incentrati soprattutto su una lettura del crimine in chiave moderna, psicologica e sociologica.
L'atmosfera che infatti pervade questo romanzo, pubblicato proprio in questa fase di profondo rinnovamento nel giallo, è quella di una resistenza isolata di fronte a spinte innovative: Bellairs scrive infatti un mystery classico andando in controtendenza rispetto ai gusti prevalenti in quegli anni.

La parte gialla, infine, si adegua anch'essa al contesto di declino, in quanto le indagini di Littlejohn, scavando a fondo, oltre la superficie di rispettabilità dei vari personaggi, rivelano corruzione, denaro sporco e grande avidità.
Il finale però è classicissimo, con la topica riunione dei sospettati davanti a cui il sovrintendente rivela la verità, dopo varie false ipotesi. La soluzione del caso è buona, non troppo sorprendente, ma basata su un indizio labile e non molto convincente.

Dunque, "Surfeit of Suspects" è un giallo piacevole, in puro stile classico, nel quale si avverte la nostalgia della Golden Age in un'epoca di profondi cambiamenti letterari.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too many suspects emerge when an explosion rocks a new town. Is it love, money or jealousy that gives motives to a number of people who may or may not be involved in the death of three men, all directors of the Excelsior Joinery Company. In this 1964 novel reprinted by the British Library in their Crime Classics series, George Bellairs (in real life a bank manager called Harold Blundell) brings back his detective Thomas Littlejohn. Sent from Scotland Yard with his trusty sidekick Inspector Cromwell, Superintendent Littlejohn has to immerse himself in local gossip and financial details of the ailing business in order to get through to the truth. This is a story of its time, in that the women are seen in a particular way, but at least they are clearly defined and actual characters rather than just makeweights.

The setting of Evingden, a new town growing out of a well established settlement, has all the gossip of families based in the area for generations, alongside the young and ambitious who are determined to move in and make their fortune. Thus Littlejohn must tackle those who have lived modest lives in small cottages as well as those in new expensive houses as he tries to discover what is really going on with a company apparently in financial dire straits. The implications for the changing society that was emerging in the 1960s forms a realistic background for a mystery that works well in a limited community. I was really pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this classic crime.

This is a well written book which features some well described characters. Ranging from the descriptions of the deceased through to the various notable residents of the town, there is room both for those who are saddened by the crime and those who are far more interested in the financial implications. As usual, Littlejohn and Cromwell are methodical in their investigations, but it is the subtle messages that witnesses and others give that inform the detectives of what is really going on. The blustering of men who find their questions intrusive, the quiet resignation of those who have lost much and the contrast between women who have quiet determination or the need to be the centre of attention are all faithfully drawn in this well paced novel. The convincing dialogue which runs throughout is cleverly used by Bellairs to form an accurate picture of the people potentially involved in the crime.

This fairly recent reprint of a crime classic in the later stage of the era of golden age detection is not a brutal or harsh description of British life, despite the drama of the opening pages. With the usual informative and contextual introduction from Martin Edwards, it is an enjoyable read with a good number of false trails and red herrings. This is an author who has experience of setting up a situation and peopling it with realistic characters, and bringing in a detective who will solidly work to discover the truth, even if the network of suspects are reluctant to co-operate. There are also flashes of inspiration which never detract from what has gone before to make this a significant and enjoyable novel. I recommend this book to those who enjoy this set of classic crime novels, and also those keen to discover one of the masters of the genre for the first time.

[AnnaG · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good solid whodunit from the 1960s.

[Vic Lauterbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another carefully written police procedural that delivers the goods. In the 41st Littlejohn book, our protagonist is a now a Detective Superintendent. He remains as calm, dogged and unflappable as ever. Bellairs hadn't lost his touch after twenty plus years of writing these stories. Although the 'present day' setting is now London in 1965, the passage of time is barely perceptible compared with books #4 and #5 that I just read. A couple Teddy Boys references instead of war references are the only clues to the era. There's nothing sensational here, just believable characters and dialogue that enables you to accompany Littlejohn and DI Cromwell on their mission to solve a triple murder. If you enjoy a calm but interesting mystery, you'll like this book.

[Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book in the British Library series of Detective Stories from the past. This dates from 1964 and to be honest is not as good as those written 20 or 30 years earlier. As always, the book is introduced by Martin Edwards who tells us the author was responsible for 50 novels, all featuring Superintendent Littejohn of Scotland Yard. Here, he's called in to investigate a mysterious explosion at a down at heels joinery works which kills three of the directors. The denouement takes place, a la Poirot, with all the suspects gathered together. The story takes place in the fictional town of Evingden, which I think is a faintly disguised stand in for the town I now live in

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery that starts out as a mess, then slowly peels back the layers of the situation and the overlapping people involved. The method of murder was at first a good way to confuse the situation, but in the end became the undoing.

Bellairs' mysteries are generally enjoyable and while there's always "characters" the puzzle is really fun to work out along with Littlejohn.

[Jacqueline Vick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author George Bellairs does something that many books on the craft of writing would frown at, and that is to go into even minor character's heads for a brief time. I find it delightful, because this tactic gives a rounded out picture of a character who might otherwise have been a name on the page. The waitress. The postman. Instead, Bellairs makes sure the reader has been properly introduced and even gives a peek at what happens after these characters leave the page. This technique gives the feeling that you are actually part of the location in which the story takes place.

And the location often changes for Superintendent Litttlejohn of Scotland yard. In many book, he can be found on the Isle of White, a charming place. In this book, he is in Surrey investigating an explosion that destroys the offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company and kills three of its director.

As there are only five directors total, it may seem that the suspect pool is limited, but that would be forgetting the bankers, lawyers, and family members on the periphery.

The Littlejohn books are methodical without being impersonal, and since this book was written in 1964, forensics wasn't as developed as it currently is, so there is more guesswork involved.

I enjoy the main character and his sergeant, Cromwell, who efficiently interview suspects, gather evidence, and work toward a solution. The humor is dry British, which I also enjoy. If you like your mysteries full of fast-paced action and quips, this isn't the book for you, but if you enjoy old-fashioned mysteries, Bellairs fits right in with that pack of authors.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Politics may make strange bedfellows, but so does marriage.

Like all the books in the BLCC series, this one benefits from the entertaining, informative introduction by editor Martin Edwards. It's a tribute to Bellairs that four of his books are included in the series, quite a feat for a virtually unknown author.

Edwards points out that this book is set in 1964, when England is undergoing some radical changes. Bellairs isn't crazy about all of them, but he wisely acknowledges them and uses them as plot-drivers in his mysteries. Post-WWII prosperity was slower coming to England than to the U.S., but it got there. Thanks to several decades when the Liberal Party controlled Parliament, the new prosperity benefited the working class as well as the rich.

With more educational opportunities, many working class families were able to move into the middle class, which meant they could move out of London into the 'burbs. Sleepy little villages like Evingden are growing quickly and (as always) everyone wants in on the profits. Some are willing to cut corners to get their "fair share."

So when a bomb goes off in the offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company, killing three men, everyone wonders what's going on. Did someone hate one of the men enough to be willing to kill two others to achieve his death? Was it something to do with the fact that the Excelsior was in serious financial problems, struggling to stay afloat? The fact that three of the five directors are holding a secret meeting tells you something, doesn't it?

Within a week, another director dies (of natural causes), leaving one ditherer to lead the company. Woe is us! Could it be that the land the Excelsior Company stands on is worth more than the company? Who would have that information?

As Edwards says, we think of Bellairs' books as "cozy mysteries" but his body count is always quite impressive. After the initial three, there are deaths from old age, suicide, and who-knows-what. Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell have their hands full.

In real life, a Scotland Yard Inspector wouldn't be playing second fiddle to a Superintendent in an investigation. He'd be heading his own investigations, aided by a sergeant, just like Littlejohn did when he was an Inspector and Cromwell was a Sergeant. But the publishing industry isn't real life and when readers demand the return of the trusty partnership they've come to love, that's what they get. Scotland Yard can like it or lump it.

More than any other Bellairs mystery, this one highlights a typical attitude in the series - unhappy marriages. Littlejohn and Cromwell are both happily married, as their creator seems to have been. But many of the other characters are yoked to people they've come to regard as serious liabilities. In this book, it's the wives who rat on their husbands and vice versa.

Littlejohn and Cromwell go about their investigation as they always do, slowly and methodically. This naturally leads to grumbling about "hot shots from Scotland Yard" ambling around and finding nothing. When detectives from the Yard show up, everyone (even the local police, who should know better) expects instant results.

This is a complicated case and Littlejohn and Cromwell can't make much progress until they lay the groundwork. Who had money in the Excelsior Company and where was that money going? Who hated any one of the three men who were targeted? Or was it an impersonal decision to get rid of three men who knew more than their murderer was comfortable with? Who had access to the old-fashioned type of dynamite that was used in the crime?

Was there double-dealing with the land and (if so) who was involved? The Swingin' Sixties may be turning England on its head, but politicians who use their insider knowledge for personal gain is as old as time itself and never likely to change.

Bellairs did a fine job of giving a nod to the social changes, while remembering that police work follows tried-and-true guidelines. Bellairs wisely stuck to the types he knew from decades of working as a bank manager. What Edwards calls his "thumbnail sketches" of even minor characters makes this series special. And as Edwards says gleefully, one of the funniest, most pathetic characters in the book is a bank manager! Bellairs could dish it out and he could take it, too. It's a good mystery.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pleasant surprise from Bellairs, though to be fair, at this point the bar is set pretty low for the British Library Crime Classics. What elevates these are the dry wit and soft humor running throughout, and the thumbnail sketches that Bellairs gifts the reader of even minor characters the police encounter in the course of their investigations.
It's 8pm on a November evening, long dark by now. The residents of Green Lane have mostly turned in for the night, when a bomb goes off at the offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company, killing three men. By the time the police arrive, there's a fire raging and a crowd of about 200 locals milling about. There's also three dead directors of the company, radically reducing the numbers from the original lot of five. Some sort of secret meeting came to a tragic end, an explosion caused by dynamite. Now it's up to the police to determine whether the motive was business or personal.
As the apt title suggests, when it comes to motive, well the police find themselves with an embarrassment of riches, which is more than you can say for the Excelsior company. Essentially bankrupt, they were calling in as many loans and extensions from the bank as they could, and the workers were going unpaid far more often than paid.
John Willie Dodd, Dick Fallows, and John Robert Piper are among the deceased, though Dodd is the only one fully formed as a character, and not a likeable one at that. He's a con man, charming enough to fool some of the men some of the time. He's married with a powerful father-in-law, and although he's not a faithful husband. His latest conquest is the wife of another director, Fred Hoop. Hoop's father, "Old Tom," is also a director, not fond of his daughter-in-law, or his son much for that matter. But he's determined to see if he can squeeze some money out of her!
Financial matters make an interesting plot point in this one, with the Fraud Division getting involved to untangle shell companies and trace them back several rounds to yet ANOTHER board and ANOTHER board of directors, with some interesting overlap among the numerous suspects. It's also an interesting look at the expansion of British towns outside London after WWII, when the population was rapidly growing and housing was limited after all the bombing. More often than not the (sub)urban development was rather slap dash, though there was still profits to be made for sure if you had good timing, good instincts, or better yet, inside info.
Inspector Littlejohn is as magnanimous and patient as ever, doggedly doing the tedious police work that solves crimes. Though there IS an Agatha Christie style reveal with all the major suspects assembled for a dramatic denouement in the last scene, some of which turns out to be luck and peer pressure rather than an abundance of evidence to force the murderer to confess.
A refreshing read in the midst of some mediocre YA romantasy reads I've tried lately. A welcome and gentle reminder of what good writing, good plotting, and good character development actually reads like.

[mrskelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bellairs is excellent at setting the tone for his mysteries with his descriptions of surroundings and characters, and this story is another great example. Bellairs takes advantage of a social aspect of life in postwar Britain, overcrowding and a growing housing problem. To alleviate these issues, Parliament passed Acts in 1946 and 1952 providing for the development of “new towns”. New towns were sometimes build around, or tacked onto, existing small towns or villages, changing their culture and often moving their centers from the old high streets to new developments. This often left the older areas to lie fallow, sometimes leading to tension between the two. Bellairs develops the tension of the “old’ versus the “new” most notably through his portrayal of the local bank. In the old part of town there is the old bank branch and tired manager struggling to keep going, and in the new town, the new modern branch with its ambitious young manager.

With such a larger cast of suspects it is difficult to develop them all thoroughly. Bellairs does establish several as personalities, most notably Bella Hoop, the histrionic cheating wife, bank manager George Roper, Alderman Vintner. But for me, it was the peripheral characters and the miniature portraits that Bellairs created of them are very striking.

My name’s Wood. Augustus Wood, but they call me Joe, said the keeper of the gate…’ ‘He wore an old suit a size too large for him which gave him. a wilting appearance. His cloth cap might have been part of his head for he never moved it. In place of his left hand he had a hook, with which he manipulated his tea-things with great skill. Obviously another casualty of the woodwork machinery trade who had been given a lighter job after his accident. He must have been past sixty and, in spite of his ill-lighted and confined job, had managed to keep a chubby cheerful countenance.”

The mystery aspect of the story is not as strong, but still not lacking. This is a police procedural with, as previously stated, a number of suspects and variety of motives. Bellairs does well to create a plot that is complex yet not convoluted. Each of the suspects makes a credible murderer, and it is not until well into the story that the clues come together to reveal the actual villain.

Another enjoyable read from Bellairs. I definitely recommend that you give it a try.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mystery concerns the explosion at a joinery company. Three men are killed and there is a strong financial component. While the inspectors, Littlejohn and Cromwell, are interesting and patient characters, the motive for the crime is rather simple (though it is repeated twice) and the characters are mostly angry, instead of having a variety of responses.
The mystery, which takes place in the town of Evingden, has 3 victims: John Dodd, Richard Fallows, and John Piper. The inspectors find a number of people linked to the victims: Fred Hoop, the other board member, Bugler, the keeper of the books, Roper, the sad banker, the wealthy but deceased Mr. Sandman, his wife Mrs. Sandman and her daughter Bella, the angry businessman, Alderman Vintner, and Ash, the lawyer. There are a few other characters who play lesser roles. The only person who remains calm is Mrs. Sandman. Most everyone else talks only when calmed by the polite inspectors.
The motive for the crime has to do with greed concerning real estate in Evingden. The Excelsior Joinery company is going under due to a lack of business. But Mr. Sandman and Vintner have inside information as to the expansion of the town and which properties will be worth much more once redevelopment starts. They gather Roper, Ash, the shady Dodd, and the two women to try buying and selling properties to make a big profit. However their plot starts to unravel and so one character decides to take out Dodd. In the end, the inspectors gather everyone to reveal the killer. Vintner is the one who set off the dynamite to eliminate Dodd.
The beginning of the novel has quite a bit of slang common at the time the novel takes place (1960s) that I had to guess at. The suspects were sensibly upset about the financial losses but it felt a bit repetitive. And the motive, though a bit complicated by having many people involved, was not as difficult to figure out as the author implied it was. The mystery lacked some suspense as well.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars rounded up because I like Inspector Littlejohn, George Bellairs’ series detective. This book opens with a literal bang, as the offices of the failing Excelsior Joinery company explode. The police find three of the five directors dead inside, and determine dynamite was the cause. But who did it, and why?

Scotland Yard is called in, and Littlejohn arrives to delve into the failing business, the lives of the deceased directors, and the last two directors, a tough-as-nails old coot father, and his rather pathetic, whiny and unsuccessful son.

There are shady business deals surrounding land acquisitions for an expanding town, set to get spillover from nearby London, shell companies and trusts, questionable loans, I couldn’t follow all of it. I didn’t feel too bad, though, Littlejohn brings in the Fraud Squad for assistance to try and sort all the layers and possible motives. And the title is certainly apt, not only a surfeit of suspects, but an unpleasant bunch, as well.

This book was published in 1964, and I’m not sure if the laws have changed in England, but I was surprised how rude and uncooperative some of the suspects were, especially given this was a murder investigation. Littlejohn seemed to have to step carefully around several unpleasant suspects, particularly a pompous, obnoxious alderman - I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator made him sound crazed!

Well done and interesting Golden Age mystery, read for the April entry of the Reading the Detectives group’s very enjoyable “Scenes of Classic Crime” challenge.