The Old English Peep Show

Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors, so I'm biased, but I really enjoyed this book. I'd rate it about third of the 5 Pibble mysteries, just below 'The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest' and 'One Foot in the Grave'. Maybe 4 and a half stars, rounded to 5. Pibble is partly an anti-hero here, with his career going down-hill, assigned to the case simply to rubber-stamp it. But his mind is too quick [I think Dickinson is superb in showing us this, making real the flights of inference that in, e.g., Agatha Christie seem to come out of the blue], and won't let him overlook the evidence of stage-managing of one murder-account after another. By experts at stage-managing--the park does sound more like 'Renaissance Fair' than Disneyland, but keeping the Disneyland model in mind reminded me of what sacrilege Pibble kept getting dragged into committing. Maybe the villian was predictable, but in every Dickinson book there are wheels within wheels, and following him getting to the heart of things was captivating.

This short mystery was Dickinson's 2nd award-winning book. His 1st crime novel, Skin Deep or The Glass-sided Ant's Nest, also won a Gold Dagger from the Crime Writer's Assn. (CWA). This book was also published as "The Old English Peep Show." Dickinson writes children's books as well as mysteries (about 50-50). This one is only 156 pages long--I read it in one day. It's a fast read too. His prose isn't as flowing as, for example, Andrew Taylor's, but Dickinson's work is extremely clever, unusual, & exciting. This book takes place at the English country home of two brothers, heroes of WWII. They were, however, heroes in defeat. Their ancestral home, turned into a theme park, provides the setting for the mystery & mayhem that follow when Detective Superintendent James Pibble of Scotland Yard arrives to confirm the details of an obvious suicide. Of course, what follows is hardly obvious. Dickinson's characterizations, while short in depth are long on creativity. He packs a great deal into his short work. His hero is efficient & effective, but no superman & his depiction of the police includes considerable politics as well as psychology. Generally, his characters (and they really ARE characters!) are complex--not black or white at all. Overall, it's a fun read, a good mystery, & IMHO deserving of its award. It is also a Black Dagger series book--selected by a committee of the CWA.

The author calls it a "Baroque spoof", but there is a lot of intensity here. Flawless writing--each page is a joy to read. The lion scenes are remarkable.