Detection Unlimited

The unpopular solicitor Sampson Warrenby is found shot beneath an oak tree after a village gathering at which several neighbours openly quarrelled with him. His habit of prying into other people’s affairs has created a large and unusually candid field of suspects.

Inspector Hemingway must reconstruct movements across the village and identify which grievance became murder. The case combines a rural closed circle with competing alibis, overheard conversations and the difficulty of separating communal dislike from individual guilt.