Surfeit of suspects

In this reissue of a mystery first published in 1964, Bellairs extends the trope of a murder victim so disliked that there's a crowd of suspects around him or her. Here, the crowd of suspects could gather around one or all of the three victims killed, directors of a company rapidly going bankrupt. The three directors died in an explosion during a meeting at the company's factory in a village in Surrey, England. Once an accidental explosion is ruled out, Scotland Yard Superintendent Littlejohn is called in, with the great question being whether this was an act against the company itself, or against one or more of the directors. Bellairs, the pseudonym of banker Harold Blundell (1902-82), brings a great deal of financial acumen to this mystery, as British Library Crime Classics editor Martin Edwards notes in his introduction. What Littlejohn finds out about the inhabitants of the village, placid on the surface but roiling with grievances and passions underneath, as it is in any good village mystery, is fascinating. From start to finish, a gripping whodunit or, in this case, a ""howmanydunit.""--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2010 Booklist

Originally published in 1964, this unimpressive entry in the British Library Crime Classics series from Bellairs (1902--1982) takes Scotland Yarder Thomas Littlejohn, now a superintendent, to Evingden in Surrey, where an explosion in the building housing the Excelsior Joinery Company has reduced the structure to rubble and killed three of the company's five directors. Once the authorities rule out an accident, Littlejohn begins to explore possible motives for the crime, starting with a look into the company's troubled finances. The two directors left alive are the elderly and infirm chairman, Tom Hoop, and his managing director son, Fred. Fred invites suspicion by refusing to disclose his whereabouts at the time of the deaths before making himself scarce. As the title indicates, Littlejohn has other suspects to pursue, but the dramatic nature of the crime isn't matched by the resolution. Whodunit fans will be disappointed. (July)