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Wimbledon #1-3
The Wimbledon Trilogy: The Wimbledon Poisoner / They Came from SW19 / East of Wimbledon
This comic trilogy brings together in one volume the tales of Henry Farr (hero of "The Wimbledon Poisoner"), Simon Britton (the 14-year-old Ufologist of "They Came from SW19"), and Robert Wilson (the aimless, untruthful young Englishman of "East of Wimbledon").
Hardcover
First published July 31, 1995
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December 19, 2025
The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams
10 out of 10
The Wimbledon Poisoner is not just a hilarious, fabulously entertaining read, but also a solid, marvelous work of art – indeed, the author mentions in the novel the fact that comedy can be as “serious” and relevant, if not in these exact words, format as tragedy – with frequent references to the Russian classic characters, their guilt, penchant for confessing their crimes – murders in the case of Raskolnikov – which is not the style of the hero of this glorious book, Henry Farr.
The hero – or antihero, depending on one’s perspective, feminist inclinations, sense of humor or lack thereof – has quite a few qualms in the beginning and he is so aggravated by his wife, Elinor, and rather obsessed with a historical killer, Everett Maltby, that he concocts a plan to become The Wimbledon Poisoner – although he also entertains some visions wherein he is agitating a pick ax or other potentially deadly instruments.
Henry Farr is also a writer – albeit his Complete History of Wimbledon is rejected by an editor, Karim Jackson, who would explain that the purpose of such a monumental work, dedicated to a rather unappealing local subject, does not fit in with the clientele of their publishing house – and a very astute, gifted, humorous observer of the neighbors, the man from 47, named Is-the-Mitsubishi-Still-Not- Scratched, his own doctor and best friend, Donald, The Worst doctor in South Eastern England, the Jungian Analyst With a Winebox and others.
The protagonist decides to poison his spouse with thallium, which would be placed on the breast of a cooked chicken – Elinor prefers that, while their daughter, Maisie, would reject it and thus be spared- which he would select from the free range section that she favors, adding to it some obscure, never heard of vegetables that should be avoided by the victim, who would be hence forced to limit herself to the only available food item, the one that would eliminate her.
At the department store, the would be killer encounters Donald, his racist friend, the incompetent doctor and starts to prepare the field for the aftermath of the poisoning, when a credible cause of death should be presented and therefore he mentions that Elinor appears to suffer from symptoms that would explain her demise, although the physician seems to be so useless as a practician as to take any explanation as plausible rather than the actual cause of stiffness.
The Wimbledon Poisoner is not sure how much thallium he needs – a few grams, two kilos, maybe a truckload, given the immense size of his target – and where to get it without causing a suspicion and an immediate interrogation by the police, so he travels to a smaller pharmacy, where he poses as a man who works with precision optical lenses –a profession that needs the substance, he has found out – and gives a false name.
Alas, when he has already cooked the liberating meal, the plan is in motion, the doorbell rings and the visitor is Donald, who accepts Elinor’s invitation to stay for dinner and when the antihero tries to present the plate with the killer compound to his spouse – if she is nice, then Stalin was gentle – she deflects him and has the portion served to the guest instead, to the horror of the murderer who would now be responsible for an accidental departure.
At the funeral, Henry Farr is assigned the role of the star speaker and manages somehow to deliver an emotional speech that makes many in the audience cry, in spite of the fact that he uses fuck a few times, he rumbles for a long time, talks about being one with the deceased, feeling the pain and other such expressions that to the reader appear jocular, if not hilarious, as are the descriptions of Elinor, who walks as a gunslinger, moving her hips, a ten feet tall and eight feet wide woman…
At the ceremony following the last rites, henry has brought a punch he has made with many bottles of Yugoslav Riesling, milk, other components, but most importantly what he thinks is the deadly “Finish them off” chemical cleaner that the Wimbledon Poisoner is sure would exterminate the woman he has not managed to poison, making him instead eliminate a friend, albeit a racist, incompetent one.
The target does not die, while three innocent bystanders, ingurgitating vast amounts of dangerous punch fall down, first the dentist David Sprott, then Coveney and Woman who is 92, living at number 92, Loomis. I what is still not a murder case for the police, who would not listen to the theory of Detective Inspector Russell Rush, who maintains that there is a killer on the loose.
Ultimately, the neighborhood becomes aware of the poisoning and they avoid eating out, especially in places where they cannot see the kitchen and the eventual poisoner, preferring a Turkish place, where Henry and his new companion, Inspector Rush, meet with Karim Jackson, who is very interested in the story of The Wimbledon Poisoner and would like to publish a potential book, articles on the subject, but dies…poisoned by the protagonist it seems, even if he appears unaware, unconscious and no more in control of his actions.
There are a multitude of scenes, descriptions and characters that cause mirth, if not outright laughter, when reading this outstanding book, one of them would be the moment when Farr and Rush meet inside the house of the departed dentist, to try and collect his ashes, for different reasons we can assume, Henry trying to eliminate incriminating evidence, whereas the inspector trying to analyze the remains and thus prove foul play.
While they are inside the house in which they had entered illegally, breaking in, they hear a car and then the widow, Edwina Sprott, enters the premises, bizarrely talking with someone who turns out to be her late husband, who does not show as a ghost, he is only an image in the creative brain of the woman who listens to…Guantanamera, yo soy un hombre sincere…
She listens and dances, using her hips, taking her clothes off in what is also a very erotic moment, when the two criminals hiding in a closet admire the pubic hair, breasts of the owner of the house who thinks she is alone with the spirit of the late husband, makes love to him or his ethereal presence and reaches a climax, when Henry sneezes, provoked by the dust in the cupboard and Edwina Sprott talks to them, without seeing the intruder she assumes correctly is the Poisoner.
There are developments in this fabulous comedy, for Henry Farr was not as informed as he thought he was on the subject of poisons, quantities, symptoms, and it is possible that someone else has tampered with the victims, the drinks and foods, perhaps in the manner of The Murder on the Orient Express, albeit the reference to an Agatha Christie work made in the novel is to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
The Wimbledon Poisoner is on The Guardian 1,000 Books Everyone Must Read list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
10 out of 10
The Wimbledon Poisoner is not just a hilarious, fabulously entertaining read, but also a solid, marvelous work of art – indeed, the author mentions in the novel the fact that comedy can be as “serious” and relevant, if not in these exact words, format as tragedy – with frequent references to the Russian classic characters, their guilt, penchant for confessing their crimes – murders in the case of Raskolnikov – which is not the style of the hero of this glorious book, Henry Farr.
The hero – or antihero, depending on one’s perspective, feminist inclinations, sense of humor or lack thereof – has quite a few qualms in the beginning and he is so aggravated by his wife, Elinor, and rather obsessed with a historical killer, Everett Maltby, that he concocts a plan to become The Wimbledon Poisoner – although he also entertains some visions wherein he is agitating a pick ax or other potentially deadly instruments.
Henry Farr is also a writer – albeit his Complete History of Wimbledon is rejected by an editor, Karim Jackson, who would explain that the purpose of such a monumental work, dedicated to a rather unappealing local subject, does not fit in with the clientele of their publishing house – and a very astute, gifted, humorous observer of the neighbors, the man from 47, named Is-the-Mitsubishi-Still-Not- Scratched, his own doctor and best friend, Donald, The Worst doctor in South Eastern England, the Jungian Analyst With a Winebox and others.
The protagonist decides to poison his spouse with thallium, which would be placed on the breast of a cooked chicken – Elinor prefers that, while their daughter, Maisie, would reject it and thus be spared- which he would select from the free range section that she favors, adding to it some obscure, never heard of vegetables that should be avoided by the victim, who would be hence forced to limit herself to the only available food item, the one that would eliminate her.
At the department store, the would be killer encounters Donald, his racist friend, the incompetent doctor and starts to prepare the field for the aftermath of the poisoning, when a credible cause of death should be presented and therefore he mentions that Elinor appears to suffer from symptoms that would explain her demise, although the physician seems to be so useless as a practician as to take any explanation as plausible rather than the actual cause of stiffness.
The Wimbledon Poisoner is not sure how much thallium he needs – a few grams, two kilos, maybe a truckload, given the immense size of his target – and where to get it without causing a suspicion and an immediate interrogation by the police, so he travels to a smaller pharmacy, where he poses as a man who works with precision optical lenses –a profession that needs the substance, he has found out – and gives a false name.
Alas, when he has already cooked the liberating meal, the plan is in motion, the doorbell rings and the visitor is Donald, who accepts Elinor’s invitation to stay for dinner and when the antihero tries to present the plate with the killer compound to his spouse – if she is nice, then Stalin was gentle – she deflects him and has the portion served to the guest instead, to the horror of the murderer who would now be responsible for an accidental departure.
At the funeral, Henry Farr is assigned the role of the star speaker and manages somehow to deliver an emotional speech that makes many in the audience cry, in spite of the fact that he uses fuck a few times, he rumbles for a long time, talks about being one with the deceased, feeling the pain and other such expressions that to the reader appear jocular, if not hilarious, as are the descriptions of Elinor, who walks as a gunslinger, moving her hips, a ten feet tall and eight feet wide woman…
At the ceremony following the last rites, henry has brought a punch he has made with many bottles of Yugoslav Riesling, milk, other components, but most importantly what he thinks is the deadly “Finish them off” chemical cleaner that the Wimbledon Poisoner is sure would exterminate the woman he has not managed to poison, making him instead eliminate a friend, albeit a racist, incompetent one.
The target does not die, while three innocent bystanders, ingurgitating vast amounts of dangerous punch fall down, first the dentist David Sprott, then Coveney and Woman who is 92, living at number 92, Loomis. I what is still not a murder case for the police, who would not listen to the theory of Detective Inspector Russell Rush, who maintains that there is a killer on the loose.
Ultimately, the neighborhood becomes aware of the poisoning and they avoid eating out, especially in places where they cannot see the kitchen and the eventual poisoner, preferring a Turkish place, where Henry and his new companion, Inspector Rush, meet with Karim Jackson, who is very interested in the story of The Wimbledon Poisoner and would like to publish a potential book, articles on the subject, but dies…poisoned by the protagonist it seems, even if he appears unaware, unconscious and no more in control of his actions.
There are a multitude of scenes, descriptions and characters that cause mirth, if not outright laughter, when reading this outstanding book, one of them would be the moment when Farr and Rush meet inside the house of the departed dentist, to try and collect his ashes, for different reasons we can assume, Henry trying to eliminate incriminating evidence, whereas the inspector trying to analyze the remains and thus prove foul play.
While they are inside the house in which they had entered illegally, breaking in, they hear a car and then the widow, Edwina Sprott, enters the premises, bizarrely talking with someone who turns out to be her late husband, who does not show as a ghost, he is only an image in the creative brain of the woman who listens to…Guantanamera, yo soy un hombre sincere…
She listens and dances, using her hips, taking her clothes off in what is also a very erotic moment, when the two criminals hiding in a closet admire the pubic hair, breasts of the owner of the house who thinks she is alone with the spirit of the late husband, makes love to him or his ethereal presence and reaches a climax, when Henry sneezes, provoked by the dust in the cupboard and Edwina Sprott talks to them, without seeing the intruder she assumes correctly is the Poisoner.
There are developments in this fabulous comedy, for Henry Farr was not as informed as he thought he was on the subject of poisons, quantities, symptoms, and it is possible that someone else has tampered with the victims, the drinks and foods, perhaps in the manner of The Murder on the Orient Express, albeit the reference to an Agatha Christie work made in the novel is to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
The Wimbledon Poisoner is on The Guardian 1,000 Books Everyone Must Read list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
Displaying 1 of 1 review