The Primrose Pursuit
Rural England in the 1950s. Following the untimely but possibly fortuitous death of the Reverend Francis Oughterard, his cat Maurice and dog Bouncer are living with his sister Primrose. A moonlit stroll over the Sussex Downs with Bouncer takes her to a dew pond and a headless body. The detached head lies nearby. Primrose reacts instantly: she goes home, has a large whisky and goes to bed, unaware that Bouncer’s metal identity disc has fallen off beside the corpse. The victim taught at Erasmus House, a local preparatory school, and another murder leaves the distraught headmaster without maths or classics teachers. As suspicion focuses on the school, ponderous Superintendent McManus, an outstandingly boring policeman, insists on regarding Primrose as a suspect. Luckily, she has information that could ruin his career. A gangster element enters the story, putting this sprightly spinster in danger, and local society, loving scandal, is agog. This is Primrose’s story, but readers also have the benefit of events as told by Maurice and Bouncer.
The research is unobtrusive but impeccable – Caffyn’s was indeed the best garage in Eastbourne. Anyone who enjoyed Mapp and Lucia will love this good-tempered satirical little book with its middle-class manners, relaxed eccentrics and tough core.
