Villainy at Vespers
by Joan Cockin
Genres: Crime, MysteryPages: 301
Series: Inspector Cam #2
Rating:
Synopsis:The lost art of brass rubbing, crooked antiques dealers, and smuggling all figure in this tale of an unidentified man found naked and ritually murdered on the altar in a Cornish church. Inspector Cam, on vacation with his family, is asked to help out the local police in this superbly plotted and literary mystery novel. Joan Cockin has created a perfect microcosm of the Cornish village in Villainy at Vespers (1949) and delights in populating the town of Trevelley with all manner of eccentric locals and oddball tourists.
Villainy at Vespers is the second book in a loose series by Joan Cockin, focusing on Inspector Cam — who in this book (in the best mystery tradition) is trying to have a bit of a holiday, in this case back in a place he stayed as a child. He’s one of those funny choices as a detective, not so consumed by the very act of being a detective as some (including E.C.R. Lorac’s Macdonald, who often shows little sign of life outside a case).
It’s a fairly slow-paced mystery, manouevring slowly around all the facts, in a way that I found very satisfying in the first book, and pretty satisfying this time. It maybe got a bit frustrating when I wanted Cam to get off his butt and chase down an obvious clue, but that is part of the charm of Cam — he’s not in it to have a high octane chase, ever. He’s just an ordinary, low-ranking cop, and he’d like to keep it that way. Performance best prompted by a bet involving someone standing him drinks, not a promotion.
Anyway, it works out pretty satisfying, and there’s some interesting choices of characterisation that confuse the mystery in an organic way, and ring true as how people are. I enjoyed it a lot, and want to read the third book this publisher have republished — but maybe not right away.
Rating: 3/5
