‘Deadlier Than the Sword’ by Jean Rowden
Published by Robert Hale London ISBN 978-0-7090-8605-5

I enjoyed the first in this series and found its sequel equally enjoyable.  The story moves along swiftly, the detective is a well rounded character (with a happy home life, thank goodness!), the mysteries are interesting and the other characters are believable.  They are believable in terms of the era since this book is set in the 1950s like its predecessor. At no point is this stated though the cover certainly shows a very old fashioned policeman in a picture-perfect village with a car of the period also visible.  The mid 1950s, of course, reveals very different views of authority, particularly in a small village, with much more deference to those of higher class and a more rigid code of behaviour for officials.  Our hero, Constable ’Thorny’ Deepbriar, may look like a woodenly correct policeman but he has a quick brain and an ability to puzzle out the solutions to serious village situations.  There is the appearance of an ancient but still lethal mantrap on a village path to worry about and there is a spate of unpleasant letters and a nasty death under the wheels of a lorry.

Period details abound but are used carefully so that they add to the story’s pleasure rather than distracting from it.  The constable’s disputes with his superiors over his handling of matters and his dealings with different village figures are well done and show the attitudes of the day.

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Jennifer S. Palmer

Jean Rowden’s previous book about ’Thorny Deepbriar’ is Bury in Haste.