Intruder in the Dark

George Bellairs' Intruder in the Dark begins with Cyril Savage's arrival in Plumpton Bois to collect an inheritance from his great-aunt, Miss Melody Johnson. Impatient, he inspects the house early, only to find that it has been ransacked and the cellar door is locked. He breaks it down and is killed by a blow to the head. There's some debate over this crime's motive—whether the intruder was a random robber or connected to Miss Johnson's past—so Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell are called from Scotland Yard to sort it out.

This was my first Littlejohn and Cromwell mystery and I was pleasantly surprised—it was hard to put down! Their investigation comprises a series of interviews with the townsfolk, who all have different impressions of Miss Johnson and her family depending on their place in the town. Since Littlejohn and Cromwell split up for their interviews and confer afterwards, they're rarely in the same scene. They're both competent and inquisitive, but they blurred together in my mind, as neither displays many unique traits. In contrast, the townsfolk are vividly written. I came away with a strong impression of the background characters and suspects. I suppose I should keep reading this series to learn more about Littlejohn and Cromwell—perhaps they're better established elsewhere.

Each interviewee has a little bit of suspicion and pettiness about them, which makes them memorable and occasionally entertaining, e.g. Mrs. Murphy:

"What sort of woman was Sarah Rasp, who used to be the Johnsons' maid?"
"A sly, secretive sort. You might also call her sinister..."
Mrs. Murphy made a point of reading most of the paperbacks covering romance, crime and horror before she put them in the rack in the shop for ready sale. It added greatly to her vocabulary of pithy words and phrases to use against her enemies. (Loc 950)

What complicates the mystery is that its motivations stem from events fifty years before. Bellairs conveys the passage of time well by making the past feel suitably distant. Many witnesses are either deceased or missing and everyone has had decades to get their story straight. My favorite moment was this epiphany by Littlejohn:

Littlejohn realised that in his contacts with these old people, these relics of events of more than half a century ago, he was among those in whom the fires of passion and enthusiasm were extinguished for ever. Many of the characters had quitted the stage long since. Their shadows were all that remained for those left behind to hate or despise. (Loc 1896)

Once the mystery is closed, the book ends without additional fluff. The most awkward part of crime fiction is when everyone has to stand around after and congratulate each other on their cleverness (because this is really the writer congratulating himself/herself). Usually, I skim this bit, but Bellairs has a knack for timing without any wasted words. I look forward to reading many others. (And I do mean "many"—he was quite prolific!)

Overall: 4.8 I loved the small town vibe and pace of the mystery. I would have liked more development/information with Littlejohn and Cromwell, but if I can get this from other books in the series, the lack of it here isn't really a 'flaw,' and they were otherwise competent and clever.

Nota Bene: This book was provided for review by the publisher, Ipso Books (via NetGalley)

A very British murder mystery with a very fifties feel about it ( although set in the sixties). The villagers are colourful but not over the top.And it is a relief to meet an Inspector and his sergeant who do not have drinking problems,a messy private life,plenty of chips on their shoulders,socially inadequate....
And let's face it,a murder happening in a remote village is most of the time a winner.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Savage drive to the village of Plumpton Bois to see the house that Mr. Savage has inherited for the first time from his aunt, Miss Melody Johnson. At one time, the village was busy with people, but now it seems almost deserted.

Mr. Savage is an intemperate man, impatient and easy to anger. He becomes frustrated at not being able to open a door in the house and breaks the lock. As he opens the door, he is hit in the head and killed.

Locals about the village disagree about who killed him. Some feel it was an intruder, but the police think it is something in Miss Johnson’s past. They call in Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell to investigate. As they start digging into the elderly lady’s past, they find some very interesting things. And in the basement of the house, near where Savage was killed, they find a locked but empty safe.

They interview several witnesses and acquaintances of Miss Johnson with some good results. As they piece together the clues and follow the trail, Littlejohn and Cromwell set a trap for the killer. When captured, they explain carefully to the killer just how it came to be that he was determined to be guilty.

This is a very well written novel. Although, we as readers do not learn a great deal about Littlejohn and Cromwell, we get to know the “suspects” in the case quite well. It could well be that more information was given about the two detectives in previous books in the series.

These classics of the British mystery genre will live forever. I will certainly read more of the Littlejohn and Cromwell series.

I want to send to Netgalley and Ipso Books a thank you for forwarding to me a copy of this most well written book to read.

Thank you.
Enjoyed it.
Will purchase copies for family and friends.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Ipso Books for a review copy of Intruder In The Dark, a police procedural featuring Chief Superintendent Littlejohn originally published in 1966.

Cyril Savage is murdered when visiting the house he inherited from his estranged great aunt Melody Johnson. The local police suspect a vagrant but the Chief Constable thinks there is more to it and calls in Scotland Yard in the form of Chief Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell. It turns out the Chief Constable is right.

Intruder In The Dark is a gem of a novel and just what I like. It is a well written, clever and, at points, amusing police procedural told entirely from the investigative point of view in a linear and logical manner. The plot starts from the premise that everyone is a suspect but as they delve into Melody's past and more information becomes available they begin to narrow the field. Who knew there could be so many secrets and bad behaviour in one small village? It's gripping stuff as more and more secrets are uncovered.

Strangely there is little character development of the detectives but the portrayal of the odd and downright strange inhabitants of Plumpton Bois more than makes up for it. Mr Bellairs also has a keen, observational eye for the foibles and tics of human nature and I caught myself a few times thinking "how apt".

The novel was written over 50 years ago so some of the language and attitudes are now deemed inappropriate but are interesting as a reflection of the times and as a measure of how society, if not human nature, has changed.

Intruder In The Dark is a fairly short but focused novel which I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone looking for a good, old fashioned whodunit.

A tidy mystery in which the murder investigation gets briskly underway - a method that allows Mr. Bellairs to get down to the sordid bits of small village life (truly a bugaboo for the Littlejohn mysteries) but also provides us a victim who the reader doesn't know from a can of paint. But is that the point of Mr. Bellairs' novels? The more I read of them, the more I think he embraces fully what other writers sort of dance around; a truly hateful murder victim that the reader is not invested in AT ALL. The better way to see the investigation unfold? Or, in this series' case, the better way in which to lift a rock and watch the bugs scatter. One of the more satisfying reads I've had from this series - a strong recommend.