From Publishers Weekly
In a vintage reprint from 1946, Creeping Venom: An Irish Gardening Mystery, Sheila Pim (Common or Garden Crime) lines up worried would-be heirs, witches, cooks and assistants as suspects in the poisoning of a rich old woman. One of the peripheral suspects, Tim Linacre, dons his detective cap to assist Bainsborough's four-man police department in sussing out the murderer.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
When a culinary adventure produces deadly results, it appears that one diner's meat can most definitely become another's poison. Miss Rebecca Hampton, the octogenarian doyenne of Bainsborough's dilapidated Hampton Court estate, abruptly dies following a meal of escargots a la poulette, and life in the tiny Irish village erupts into a hotbed of activity for the local Civic Guards as Pim compiles a curious crew of culprits in this 1946 garden mystery, published in the U.S. for the first time. While the official investigation proceeds at a snail's pace, Hampton's energetic young cousin, Tim, a detective wanna-be, follows a trail of murky clues to track down the real killer. Did Rebecca's meek and mousy companion, Priscilla, finally come out of her shell following yet another rebuke from her mistress? Or did Rebecca's heir-apparent, Liam, threatened with disinheritance, decide to slug it out with his irascible cousin? Pim's sleuth spoof oozes with trenchant observations and sardonic bons mots as she aims her acerbic, tongue-in-cheek wit on Ireland's quaint village culture. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
