Flaxborough Chronicles
11 primary works • 13 total works
Book 1
Described by Cecil Day-Lewis as 'a great lark, full of preposterous situations and pokerfaced wit', Coffin Scarcely Used is Colin Watson's first Flaxborough novel and was originally published in 1958.
The small town of Flaxborough is taken aback when one of the mourners at Councillor Carobelat's funeral dies just six months later. Not only was he Councillor Carobelat's neighbour but the circumstances of his death are rather unusual, even for Flaxborough standards. Marcus Gwill, proprietor of the Flaxborough Citizen has been found electrocuted at the foot of an electricity pylon with a mouth full of marshmallows. Local gossip rules it as either an accident or a suicide but Inspector Purbright remains unconvinced. After all, he's never encountered a suicide who has been in the mood for confectionery at the last moment...
The small town of Flaxborough is taken aback when one of the mourners at Councillor Carobelat's funeral dies just six months later. Not only was he Councillor Carobelat's neighbour but the circumstances of his death are rather unusual, even for Flaxborough standards. Marcus Gwill, proprietor of the Flaxborough Citizen has been found electrocuted at the foot of an electricity pylon with a mouth full of marshmallows. Local gossip rules it as either an accident or a suicide but Inspector Purbright remains unconvinced. After all, he's never encountered a suicide who has been in the mood for confectionery at the last moment...
Book 2
Detective Inspector Purbright of the Flaxborough police force is used to a life of quietude in a small market town, yet he knows that behind the outward respectability of typical English communities a darker underbelly of greed, crime and corruption lurks.
Chalmsbury, a neighbouring town to Flaxborough, has been experiencing a series of explosions that have destroyed many of the town's monuments. Explosives have even gone missing from the Flaxborough civil defence centre and Purbright is seconded to the baffled Chalmsbury police force to help them discover the culprit.
When one of the locals is killed Purbright is forced to delve into the community of eccentric residents in a desperate hunt for the killer and finds that, like Flaxborough, Chalmsbury is every bit as rich in genteel assassination.
First published in 1960 Bump in the Night is Colin Watson's second book in the Flaxborough series.
'He has all the virtues one looks for in a crime novel: a gift for writing dialogue, a sense of character, a style which moves from easy flippancy to positive grace.' Julian Symons
Chalmsbury, a neighbouring town to Flaxborough, has been experiencing a series of explosions that have destroyed many of the town's monuments. Explosives have even gone missing from the Flaxborough civil defence centre and Purbright is seconded to the baffled Chalmsbury police force to help them discover the culprit.
When one of the locals is killed Purbright is forced to delve into the community of eccentric residents in a desperate hunt for the killer and finds that, like Flaxborough, Chalmsbury is every bit as rich in genteel assassination.
First published in 1960 Bump in the Night is Colin Watson's second book in the Flaxborough series.
'He has all the virtues one looks for in a crime novel: a gift for writing dialogue, a sense of character, a style which moves from easy flippancy to positive grace.' Julian Symons
Book 3
Within the quiet respectable market town of Flaxborough lurks a dangerous criminal: someone who has no compunction in committing horrific crimes. A secret agent has been murdered in unsavoury circumstances connected to an acid bath and it is up to Inspector Purbright to investigate, but it does not take long for two more operatives to arrive in Flaxborough looking for the same answers. How can one of their colleagues have been murdered in such a bland, provincial town? As ever Purbright must use all his skills as an investigator to get to the truth. Described by the Literary Review as 'wickedly funny,' Hopjoy was Here, the third in the Flaxborough series, was first published in 1962.
'[A] macabre and jolly English tale.' New Yorker
'Mr Watson has an unforgivably sharp eye for the ridiculous.' Anthony Boucher, New York Times
Faber Finds will be reissuing all the Flaxborough novels in sequence.
'[A] macabre and jolly English tale.' New Yorker
'Mr Watson has an unforgivably sharp eye for the ridiculous.' Anthony Boucher, New York Times
Faber Finds will be reissuing all the Flaxborough novels in sequence.
Book 4
Right at the bottom of the column, it was.
Something for which she had not dared to hope. Not in remote, prosperous, hard-headed Flaxborough.
A matrimonial bureau.
Two women have disappeared in the small market town of Flaxborough. They are about the same age, both quite shy and both unmarried. As Inspector Purbright discovers the only connection between them appears to be the Handclasp House Marriage Bureau, but what begins as a seemingly straightforward missing persons case soon spirals out of control as Purbright encounters deceit, blackmail and murder.
Lonelyheart 4122 is the fourth in Colin Watson's Flaxborough series and was first published in 1967.
'Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings.' Sunday Times
'Watson's Flaxborough begins to take on the solidity of Bennett's Five Towns, with murder, murky past and much acidic comment added.' H. R. F. Keating
Something for which she had not dared to hope. Not in remote, prosperous, hard-headed Flaxborough.
A matrimonial bureau.
Two women have disappeared in the small market town of Flaxborough. They are about the same age, both quite shy and both unmarried. As Inspector Purbright discovers the only connection between them appears to be the Handclasp House Marriage Bureau, but what begins as a seemingly straightforward missing persons case soon spirals out of control as Purbright encounters deceit, blackmail and murder.
Lonelyheart 4122 is the fourth in Colin Watson's Flaxborough series and was first published in 1967.
'Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings.' Sunday Times
'Watson's Flaxborough begins to take on the solidity of Bennett's Five Towns, with murder, murky past and much acidic comment added.' H. R. F. Keating
Book 5
My Dear Friend . . . I am in great danger. The person whose loyal and faithful companion I have been . . . intends to have me done away with . . .
When this unsigned letter is sent to three people in town none of them take it seriously. However, as with most events Inspector Purbright and the residents of Flaxborough realise that hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially when a woman is found dead in suspicious circumstances.
Charity Ends at Home is the fifth novel in the Flaxborough series and was first published in 1968. Faber Finds will be reissuing all the Flaxborough novels in sequence.
'Arguably the best of comic crime writers.' Time Out
Book 6
The Flaxborough Crab was first published in 1969, although its title in the US was Just What the Doctor Ordered, and is the sixth novel in the Flaxborough series. H. R. F. Keating, in his critical study Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books, praised the 'solidity of Watson's Flaxborough saga.' Watson, Keating said, 'created in his imaginary Flaxborough a place it is not preposterous to compare with the creation of Arnold Bennett in his classic Five Towns novels, or even perhaps with William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County'. All twelve of Colin Watson's 'Flaxborough Chronicles' were set in this fictional town that could be found somewhere in the East of England and it is home to 15,000 inhabitants that appear, on the surface at least, to be bland and conservative, but as the novels show appearances can be deceiving.
. . . Raising another flower - a lank, brownish-yellow affair - Miss Pollock deliberately avoided the leading contestant's eye and looked appealingly to the further part of her audience.
'Now, what about some of you other ladies? Wouldn't you like to have a try?'
'Old Man's Vomit,' snapped the omniscient Mrs. Crunkinghorn. 'You don't want to hold that too near your dress, me dear.'
. . . Raising another flower - a lank, brownish-yellow affair - Miss Pollock deliberately avoided the leading contestant's eye and looked appealingly to the further part of her audience.
'Now, what about some of you other ladies? Wouldn't you like to have a try?'
'Old Man's Vomit,' snapped the omniscient Mrs. Crunkinghorn. 'You don't want to hold that too near your dress, me dear.'
Book 7
'She pranced towards the edge of the clearing, swerved and came back for another fire vault. Her hands moved in gestures of sinuous supplication. . . Then Mrs Pentatuke would halt on tiptoe, shut tight her eyes behind the bejewelled glasses, and cry in a rich tenor: "O mighty spirit! We are thine! Amen evil from us deliver but!" '
It is the eve of Saint Walpurga and the respectable housewives of Flaxborough are dancing naked around fires. It is also brought to Inspector Purbright's attention that there are darker forces at work. This includes reports of Satanism, cult sacrifice and black magic, as well as the vicious ritual killing that shocks the town. Is there a practitioner of the dark arts in Flaxborough or is that just a smokescreen for a mere murder?
Broomsticks over Flaxborough is the seventh in Colin Watson's 'Flaxborough chronicles'. First published in 1972 it was described by Julian Symons as having 'all the virtues one looks for in a crime novel.'
It is the eve of Saint Walpurga and the respectable housewives of Flaxborough are dancing naked around fires. It is also brought to Inspector Purbright's attention that there are darker forces at work. This includes reports of Satanism, cult sacrifice and black magic, as well as the vicious ritual killing that shocks the town. Is there a practitioner of the dark arts in Flaxborough or is that just a smokescreen for a mere murder?
Broomsticks over Flaxborough is the seventh in Colin Watson's 'Flaxborough chronicles'. First published in 1972 it was described by Julian Symons as having 'all the virtues one looks for in a crime novel.'
Book 9
Written by Colin Watson. The Lincolnshire town of Flaxborough seems respectable enough, with many professionals living there, but young Robert Digby Tring's sudden death in the fairground again brings a shock to the inhabitants. Julia Harton is married to a rising pet food executive but becomes involved in 'Happy Endings Inc,' but what is this organisation? Inspector Purbright must delve deep to find the truth about the town's mysteries ...Fol Watson (1021-1983) was both a journalist and a novelist. He received the coveted Crime Writers' Silver Dagger Award.
Book 10
A car mowing its way through Flaxborough market (and almost over Constable Cowdry) dramatically signals the presence of fearless, crusading journalist - Clive Grail, bent on uncovering scandal in that town's quiet and overtly respectable back streets. In answer to published hints of revelations to come, the mayor issues a challenge of a bloodcurdling and - as Inspector Purbright patiently explains - illegal nature. However, the war of threats is not the worst of it. Those who play with blue films and blackmail often find themselves involved in more than they had bargained for; and soon Purbright finds himself striving to solve a much graver and more sinister crime...
First published in 1979, Blue Murder is the tenth novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough is Colin Watson's quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice...Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid.' Daily Telegraph
'Arguably the best, and certainly the most consistent of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce...Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot.' TIME OUT
First published in 1979, Blue Murder is the tenth novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough is Colin Watson's quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice...Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid.' Daily Telegraph
'Arguably the best, and certainly the most consistent of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce...Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot.' TIME OUT
Book 11
The appreciation of antique objects is not perhaps Detective Sergeant Sidney Love's forte, yet his critical appraisal of Lot Thirty-Four - comprising two golf balls, an LMS railway tumbler, an old meat mincer, two decanter stoppers, a soap dish and a moulded relief of a cottage entitled 'At the End of Life's Lane' - at an antiques auction which sets events in motion. The sale of Lot Thirty-Four at the handsome price of GBP400, together with further curious developments, leads Inspector Purbright to the heart of a chilling but decidedly genteel murder mystery...
First published in 1980, Plaster Sinners is the eleventh novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough is Colin Watson's quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice...Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid.' Daily Telegraph
'Arguably the best, and certainly the most consistent of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce...Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot.' TIME OUT
'One of the best. As always with Watson, the writing is sharp and stylish and wickedly funny!' Literary Review
First published in 1980, Plaster Sinners is the eleventh novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough is Colin Watson's quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice...Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid.' Daily Telegraph
'Arguably the best, and certainly the most consistent of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce...Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot.' TIME OUT
'One of the best. As always with Watson, the writing is sharp and stylish and wickedly funny!' Literary Review
Book 12
The question taxing Detective Inspector Purbright's brain was whether anything untoward had been going on in the tiny village of Mumblesby. Certainly the circumstances surrounding the death of 'Rich Dick' Loughbury, the solicitor, seemed genuinely beyond suspicion. And although his widow (if that was what she was) left a certain amount to be desired socially in local eyes, and his house was stuffed with antiques acquired without bills of sale from neighbouring Mumblesby residents, there was nothing Purbright could actually put his finger on. That was, until the day of the funeral...
'Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby?' is an entertaining and witty excursion into rural deviance and the foibles of Flaxborough and its environs.
'Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby?' is an entertaining and witty excursion into rural deviance and the foibles of Flaxborough and its environs.
'TWO NAKED NUNS AVAILABLE PHILADELPHIA' is the strangest cable ever to come to Flaxborough. Inspector Purbright, who has coped with a few odd things in his time, finds it opens a rich lode of skullduggery, deceit and sudden death.
Flaxborough is a quiet market town in the east of England, discreetly prosperous, respectable and brimming with provincial virtues. However, beneath the bland surface, strange passions seethe. The little foibles of its citizens afford more than ample scope to the wisdom and pertinacity of Inspector Purbright.
First published in 1975, The Naked Nuns is the eighth novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings.' Sunday Times
Flaxborough is a quiet market town in the east of England, discreetly prosperous, respectable and brimming with provincial virtues. However, beneath the bland surface, strange passions seethe. The little foibles of its citizens afford more than ample scope to the wisdom and pertinacity of Inspector Purbright.
First published in 1975, The Naked Nuns is the eighth novel in the Flaxborough series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation.
'Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings.' Sunday Times
