Synopses & Reviews
Sherlock Holmes once claimed that “the lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."
And Oliver Swithin, reluctant guest in an English village, is about to find out that it's true.
Coaxed out of his clothes and into a midnight streak by his girlfriend, Olivers amorous intentions are thwarted by the discovery of a dead body dangling from the villages ancient gibbet. When it appears that the famous victim was driven to suicide by blackmail, Oliver resolves to find the blackmailer. And to do so, he needs to discover the dead mans secret.
But in the twenty-first century, when sins that would once have been ripe for shaming are now a cause for hiring a publicist, what foul deeds of the past will people still pay to keep hidden? Is the carefully cut out page from a Shakespeare play, with its reference to a "private plot," really a clue? Why did somebody fill in the victim's grave before his funeral?
And what does any of this have to do with the memoir writers of the Vicar's reading group, the five unmarried Bennett sisters, the mysterious monk known only as "The Vampire of Synne," the case of the two Shakespeares, and the married couple who are never seen in the same room at the same time? Will there be yet another appearance by Underwood Tooth, the world's leading expert on being ignored?
Oliver discovers that the death was no suicide. But that's nothing compared with the next revelation, which turns the entire investigation upside down and puts Oliver's own life in peril.
Review
" this first novel succeeds in large part because of its humor, light tone, imaginative characters, and fascinating murder scenes. A pleasant distraction." --Library Journal of An Embarrasment of Corpses, "In the end, it's difficult to say what's most appealing about this book: Oliver's beguiling personality, the inventive plot, or the clever wordplay, raucous jokes, and hilarious innuendos. No matter. Beechey has concocted a sparkling little gem of a mystery that's a treat to read." --Booklist of Murdering Ministers
Synopsis
If a blackmail letter drives a man to suicide, is the sender guilty of murder? "Yes," says Oliver Swithin, author of bestselling Finsbury the Ferret children's stories and amateur sleuth, who is on holiday in an ancient village.
A midnight streak with his naked girlfriend - Scotland Yard's Effie Strongitham - abruptly ends in the discovery of a corpse. Retired radiobroadcaster Dennis Breedlove has hanged himself from the old gibbet. Evidence suggests blackmail may have driven this celebrity to suicide. Irresistibly intrigued, Oliver believes discovering the dead man's secret will lead to the identity of the blackmailer. But in Britain today, when shame is a ticket to fame, why suicide? What if it wasn't?
When the mystery abruptly turns inside out, black-clad strangers attack Oliver in the night. The Vicar behaves strangely. So do the village's five unmarried Bennet sisters, a mysterious monk, the persistent, self-effacing Underwood Tooth, and Oliver's Uncle Tim, Effie's superior at the Yard and a part-time Shakespearean actor. Plus Oliver's aunt and his mother. Who else might play a role in This Private Plot? Two William Shakespeares?
It's time to put the laugh back into slaughter with the long-awaited third chapter in the career of Oliver Swithin. Yet under the clever wordplay and bawdy jokes lies an inventive and, yes, scholarly plot.
About the Author
Alan Beechey was born in England and grew up in London. He moved to Manhattan in his twenties and now lives with his three sons in Rye, New York, a city named after the English seaside town where his grandmother was born. This Private Plot is the third title featuring children's book author and amateur sleuth Oliver Swithin and his girlfriend, Scotland Yard detective Effie Strongitharm. They first met in An Embarrassment of Corpses, which The Bookshop Blog included in its list of the "Best 100 Mysteries of All Time," and reappeared in Murdering Ministers. Alan is also the co-author of a non-fiction book on American culture and values.