Customer Reviews

Wycliffe and the Schoolgirls

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was originally published under the title, "Wycliffe and the School Girls." I have enjoyed the novels in the Wycliffe series that I have read so far and this is one of the best. There are 37 in all and they are listed at an easy-to-find website devoted to the author. A fair number of English novels are re-titled when they are published in the U.S., including some of Ruth Rendell's early books. I think this is not an attempt on the part of the publishers, much less the book dealers, to mislead the reader. I think the publisher is trying to find a word that may resonate more with an American audience. Thus, "school bullies" vs. "school girls." (As a matter of interest, all the Harry Potter books had totally different covers in their American editions.)
So for those who are thinking of buying this book, don't be mislead by earlier reviewers' one-star "reviews" of the publisher's or Amazon's failure to disclose something that was pretty obvious anyway.
This is a good mystery of the "police procedural" type. The success and satisfactions of Burley's Wycliffe stories lies in the detective's personality and approach to the case-- a blend of systematic plodding and mature insight into the character of his suspects. There are also wonderfully evocative descriptions and detailed location references for lovers of Cornwall.

I bought it only to find out it was published in the 1970s under a slightly different title, a book I already owned. I failed to note the above review. Worse yet, Amazon does not note this in the "Product Details", even after I politely requested they do so. I was informed it wasn't there error that I purchased it, and thus was docked for shipping it back.

This book is an old novel under a new title. Nowhere does it indicate this.

This book follows one of Burley's standard formats, with a flashback prologue showing the reader a motive for a crime, then showing the crime that first brings Wycliffe into the story, and following the process of solving the crime. Here the motive is the vicious bullying of a young teenager on a school trip, and the crime is the separate murders of two young women. At first there appears to be no link between the two murders, but as Wycliffe digs into their past, he starts to find connections. Connections that lead him to a motive, other potential victims, and a race to find the killer. It's not difficult for the reader to work out who the killer is, but the point of the story is to follow along as Wycliffe pieces together the fragments of information that might lead him to the next victim before the killer. It's an entertaining read with some interesting character sketches, although be warned that the prologue could be triggery for bullying victims.

(Note that this is a retitled issue of Wycliffe and the Schoolgirls.)

I like the Wycliffe series. I did not realize that I had already read this book years ago under a different title.