Deadline

Simon Bognor #3

by Tim Heald

Book by Heald, Tim

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Tim Heald (b. 1944) is a journalist and author of mysteries. Born in Dorchester, England, he studied modern history at Oxford before becoming a reporter and columnist for the Sunday Times. He began writing novels in the early 1970s, starting with Unbecoming Habits (1973), which introduced Simon Bognor, a defiantly lazy investigator for the British Board of Trade. Heald followed Bognor through nine more novels, including Murder at Moose Jaw (1981) and Business Unusual (1989) before taking a two-decade break from the series, which returned in 2011 with Death in the Opening Chapter.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Heald knows how to tell a story. The mystery is not too difficult to figure out, but it is fun following Bognor to the solution.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Heald's better Simon Bogner stories. The plot holds together better, and is more meticulously constructed. Lots of people have plausible motives, and the solution, while guessable, is still believable.

As usual, this a pretty formulaic effort. Bogner is his usual pudgy, befuddled and amiable self. And as I said about a previous book, he is not as bungling as the author consistently describes him. There is the usual femme fatale (Molly, this time, a more pedestrian name that Aubergine and Coriander in other books in the series), and the usual flirting. Bogner's boss, Parkinson, is a bit less nasty than usual and Bogner's steady girlfriend, Monica, is especially supportive this time. And once again the victim is described as "extremely dead."

Heald always has fun with the names of his characters. In this case, the group which jointly produces a newspaper gossip column are Milly, Molly, Willy, Granny and Bernie.

I was hoping for a bit of a satire on the newspaper world, but that is not at all the case. This is just a conventional mystery and a pretty good read.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opnieuw een leuke detective met anti-held Simon Bognor die op zijn eigen onhandige wijze een geheimzinnige moord ontrafelt. Cricket speelt een grote rol wat het op einde moeilijker te volgen maakt daar enkel echte engelsen dat spel begrijpen - gelukkig speelt cricket geen rol in de oplossing van het raadsel. Wel drank, veel drank. Spanning, geweld en humor spelen een grote rol in dit mysterie. Tim Heald is een begenadigd schrijver die een geliefde held heeft gecreëerd.

[Belinda Avdek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Bognor is definitely out of place in journalism’s social column. The heavily drinking group is all under suspicion and as usual, Simon is clueless how to proceed. Again colorful characters make this a fun read.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

too plodding for my taste