About the Book
Guy Fawkes Night, 5th November, 1930. Bonfires are blazing, rockets burst. In a country lane, revellers discover a car that has been set on fire. At first, they assume that this is the work of vandals taking the Guy Fawkes spirit a little too far, sitting at the wheel is a body, charred beyond recognition.
The initial assumption is that the owner of the car, Mr Harold Musgrave, a successful travelling salesman has taken his own life in a particularly grisly act of self-immolation. The post-mortem, however, reveals that Mr Musgrave was either unconscious or dead before the fire was lit. When Tommy Prosser, a local criminal, is charged with the murder, barrister Arthur Skelton believes him to be innocent, so sets out to ensure justice is served.
Format: ebook (296 pages) Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication date: 20th October 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime
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My Review
Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses is the latest in the author’s historical crime series featuring barrister Arthur Skelton. Links from the titles will take you to my reviews of the previous books in the series – Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons and Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders.
Set in the 1930s, Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses sees Arthur Skelton, assisted by his trusty clerk Edgar Hobbes, juggling the defence of Tommy Prosser, accused of the murder and immolation of vacuum cleaner salesman Harold Musgrave, with a number of other cases. One of the joys of the series is the glimpses of these cases whose unlikely subject matter, such as the difference between ‘knickerbockers’ and ‘plus fours’, turn out to be loosely based on actual cases (as the Author’s Note reveals). I particularly liked Arthur’s joy at being able to utter the word ‘lavatory’ in open court – not once but twice – in relation to another case.
Fans of the series will be delighted by the return of characters from the previous books, such as Skelton’s cousin and prolific correspondent, Alan, who along with his sister Norah, travels the country in a caravan spreading ‘the joy of Jesus’. What’s particularly clever is the way the author uses Alan’s experiences to highlight the impact of the Depression on ordinary people. It’s a time of low wages, traditional industries closing down, ill health caused by poor housing, and families struggling to put food on the table. So completely different from now then…
I was also overjoyed by the return of Rose Critchlow now working as an articled clerk for the solicitors who provide most of Arthur’s work. During her trip to Heidelberg in Germany to secure a vital piece of evidence she witnesses the first signs of the malevolent influence of the Nazis that will eventually culminate in the outbreak of the Second World War.
It’s not all doom and gloom though because one of the lovely features of the series is the humour, whether that’s Edgar’s newly acquired obsession with Czech cubist furniture design, the secret of the perfectly pressed trouser or the humiliation of a pompous opponent by Arthur’s formidable wife, Mila. Arthur and Mila’s affectionate banter is a lot of fun too.
After an exciting and dramatic conclusion to the case of the blazing corpse, the end of the book sees Arthur rather disillusioned with the justice system and the inequality he witnesses on a daily basis. Will the man the newspapers have dubbed ‘The Who Refuses to Lose’ give up? I hope not.
Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses is a delightful, ingenious historical crime mystery, and a great addition to the series.
I received a review copy courtesy of Allison & Busby via NetGalley. Do check out their website to see the wonderful range of books they publish.
In three words: Witty, entertaining, clever
Try something similar: Ghosts of the West by Alec Marsh
About the Author
David Stafford began his career in theatre. He has written countless dramas, comedies and documentaries including two TV films with Alexei Sayle, Dread Poets Society with Benjamin Zephaniah, and, with his wife, Caroline, a string of radio plays and comedies including The Brothers, The Day the Planes Came and The Year They Invented Sex as well as fibwe biographies of musicians and showbusiness personalities. Fings Ain’t Wot They Use T’Be – The Life of Lionel Bart was chosen as a Radio 4 Book of the Week and made into a BBC Four TV documentary.
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