Fire in the Barley: A traditional English murder mystery

By Frank Parish, Frank Parrish, Roger Longrigg

Book Overview

It's the perfect time to try this cosy English mystery series Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, M C Beaton, Sophie Hannah and Faith Martin.

The best person to catch a criminal is a criminal himself... 1977, West Country of EnglandReclusive poacher Dan Mallett spends his evenings prowling the local countryside for his latest catch.

And one night he is almost caught by the police.

But they weren't looking for him - someone else has been committing crimes in the local area.

With his night-time hobby at imminent risk, Dan decides to try and catch the offender himself.

He uses methods that are by turn ingenious, crooked, and sensationally successful, but as he gets closer to solving the mystery, it seems the police could be about to pin the crimes on him...

Will Dan catch the perpetrator before the police catch up with him...?

Fire in the Barley is the first cosy village mystery in the Dan Mallett Investigation series: private investigation murder mysteries set in rural England.

'I loved it. I haven't read a novel that's given me so much pleasure for a long time. It's exciting and it's funny from beginning to end. The whole of it is permeated with an authentic knowledge of the English countryside' - Roald Dahl

'Here is a find. On the crime scene steps a fully fledged, all-of-a-piece original character in a well-conceived, excitingly paced story... I have a notion you will read this first book of the series at a gulp' - The Times

'A remarkable and brilliant first novel... The bluff and double bluff, the magnificent understanding of countryside, the complex skill of the detective, are all entrancing ' - The Spectator

'Mr Parrish did for poaching what Dick Francis did for horse racing' - Oxford Mail

THE DAN MALLETT INVESTIGATIONS SERIES:
Book One: Fire in the Barley
Book Two: Sting of the Honeybee
Book Three: Snare in the Dark
Book Four: Bait on the Hook
Book Five: Face at the Window
Book Six: Fly in the Cobweb
Book Seven: Caught in the Birdlime
Book Eight: Voices From the Dark

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1800550235
• ISBN13: 9781800550230
• Release Date: July 2020
• Publisher: Sapere Books
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Worth seeking out -- great series!

Frank Parrish's Dan Mallett novels are unjustly neglected little gems, with twisty plots and lyrical descriptions of the English countryside. His detective is an unusual and memorable character; pushed into a banking career by his ambitious mother, he takes up his father's "career" of poaching after his father dies. Dan is a charmer, appreciated by the ladies and willing to put on a thick accent and country yokel act when needed, or slip back into his banking suit and tight black shoes as a disguise. He makes a little money on the side by doing odd jobs for the "nobs", which brings him into contact with all sorts of nefarious goings-on. When his mother needs an operation and refuses to go to the public hospital, he begins stealing to save up the necessary money -- just a little here and there from people he disapproves of. He has his own moral code and if the rich folks don't treat people or animals right, they are marked down as potential donors to his cause...In this first book, Dan becomes a suspect when a number of local farmers and gardeners fall victim to an extortion racket. Dan investigates in order to clear his own name. While the reader may be able to guess who is behind the racket, there are a couple of very surprising twists in the last few pages. I only give this one four stars because the later books in the series are even better. Frank Parrish was one of the pseudonyms of Roger Longrigg, who also wrote as Ivor Drummond.