A Little Local Murder

By Robert Barnard

The news that Radio Broadwich is to make a documentary on Twytching for broadcast in America spreads through the small village like wildfire. Mrs Deborah Withens, Twytching's resident doyenne and arbiter of good taste, takes it upon herself to control the presentation of her 'county town' and assumes responsibility for picking those that will take part, provoking fierce rivalry amongst the villagers.

One resident who is reticent to participate in the fuss is Inspector George Parrish . . . until the murder of the first villager chosen, and a rash of poison pen letters uncovering secrets Twytching's leading citizens had fervently hoped were buried, force him to get involved.

In this early classic, Robert Barnard skilfully demonstrates that no one is more cunning in preparing the reader to expect the totally unexpected and his incisive character portrayals in this early gem impart a dimension rarely found in English detective fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Nov 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781447239529

Robert Barnard

Robert Barnard (1936-2013) was awarded the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Nero Wolfe Award, as well as the Agatha and Macavity awards. An eight-time Edgar nominee, he was a member of Britain's distinguished Detection Club, and, in May 2003, he received the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement in mystery writing. 

Reviews for A Little Local Murder

[lucybrown_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In A Little Local Murder Barnard presents an amusingly drawn, quirky cast of village nuisances. The small time arbiter of village life has taken on the role of choosing who will and, more importantly, who will not appear on a radio programme about the town. Alas, the producer and an upstart doyenne have other ideas. Throw in a series of posion pen letters and all sorts of innuendo and voila. The book has Barnard's typical needling humor, though some of it leans a bit too heavily on ugly stereotypes, especially in the case of the portrayal of a gay radio producer, which considering the books publication date, 1979, is not entirely surprising. Otherwise, a fun little local murder.

[condorena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Robert Barnard takes a typical English village and sets a cat among the pigeons as he tells a story of what a group of people will do to get there fifteen minutes of fame as they fight each other to get a spot on a local radio show.

This is one case where the supposed cream does not rise to the top, rather it curdles the milk as murder and mayhem is stirred up.