Perhaps the mysterious outsiders were right. Perhaps it really was a case of "spy vs. counterspy," complete with a winner and a very unfortunate loser. Or, maybe not. Perhaps it was a more sordid and everyday murder. Or disappearance. In Flaxborough, it's hard to sort out the truth. Which is why "Hopjoy Was Here," by Colin Watson, is really so much fun. It's the subject of today's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the whole thing by clicking here.
"Hopjoy Was Here" is the third book in Watson's "Flaxborough Chronicles" series of books about a small town which might politely be called "morally challenged." Consider the case of Brian Hopjoy - now vanished and quite possibly rather spectacularly dead. Hopjoy was something of a man of mystery, so it may not be too surprising that two British counterintelligence agents (from a super-super-secret agency) show up to investigate Hopjoy's sudden disappearance. They are convinced Hopjoy is the victim of an international assassin. Sergeant Walter Purbright, and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Sidney Love, the long-suffering representatives of law and order (such as it is) in Flaxborough, suspect that something far less consequential, if equally deadly, is going on here. Given Flaxborough's rather alarming acceptance of promiscuity and other interesting sins, the police may know better than the supersecret agents...
Colin Watson's books are a great deal of fun, and "Hopjoy Was Here," which originally appeared in 1962, is a fine entry in the series. I do hope that there will be more Watson titles coming from the Rue Morgue Press.
We tried to watch the TV version of these books and did not care too much for it. Do you know if the books and the TV version are very similar? You have done podcasts on more than one book in this series and always make them sound so enticing. I am greatly tempted to try one.
Posted by: Jennifer Lowe | November 02, 2011 at 08:47 PM
Jennifer, I must admit I didn't know there were TV versions of some of the Flaxborough books. I haven't seen them, so I can't say how they compare to the original novels. Of the ones I have read so far, I enjoyed "Hopjoy" the most. Watson also wrote a short volume of mystery criticism, called "Snobbery With Violence," which is wickedly funny, even if I disagree with some of his conclusions!
Posted by: Les Blatt | November 02, 2011 at 08:58 PM