Coffin Scarcely Used
Coffin, Scarcely Used (A Flaxborough Mystery Book 1) by Colin Watson Farrago Humor , Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 22 Feb 2018
Review
Coffin Slightly Used is an enjoyable British police procedural, light on tension but pleasantly paced and delightfully witty. There is a great deal of humor but it is subtle rather than laugh out loud. It is a great mystery to enjoy while drinking a pot of tea on a lazy afternoon.
Harold Carobleat, respected councilor and do-gooder is dead. Little is thought of this until his neighbor dies in what appears to be a bizarre accident. Detective Inspector Purbright doesn’t get many murders, but he’s fairly certain Marcus Gwill would not have committed suicide by electrocution. Both men had the same associates and regularly socialized with each other. Detective Inspector Purbright is certain he is being lied to, but isn’t sure why. As determined as he is affable, Purbright doesn’t give up, unraveling the complex mystery strand by strand.
Coffin Slightly Used is a classic style mystery. It isn’t graphic or violent. It is light, humorous, and quite satisfying. It is a nice alternative that will appeal to readers who enjoy cozy mysteries.
4 / 5
I received a copy of Coffin Slightly Used from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
— Crittermom
Description In the respectable seaside town of Flaxborough, the equally respectable councillor Harold Carobleat is laid to rest. Cause of death: pneumonia. But he is scarcely cold in his coffin before Detective Inspector Purbright, affable and annoyingly polite, must turn out again to examine the death of Carobleat’s neighbour, Marcus Gwill, former prop. of the local rag, the Citizen. This time it looks like foul play, unless a surfeit of marshmallows had led the late and rather unlamented Mr Gwill to commit suicide by electrocution. (‘Power without responsibility’, murmurs Purbright.) How were the dead men connected, both to each other and to a small but select band of other town worthies? Purbright becomes intrigued by a stream of advertisements Gwill was putting in the Citizen, for some very oddly named antique items… Witty and a little wicked, Colin Watson’s tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay
