Villainy at Vespers

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. Apart from gregarious and engaging Betsey Rowan and her entertaining gang of students, there is a cast of lively and eccentric characters. These include: spinsterish Miss Cornthwaite who is nearly done in by the ruthless villains in an astonishing sequence along a cliff side; Red Cowdrey, a cantankerous old man with a reputation for smuggling and other unscrupulous business; John Briarley, a visiting historian and antiquarian, obsessed with getting the best possible rubbing from the Pollpen brass and many others. Leading the investigation is a nearly incompetent and irascible local policeman named Honeywether who enlists the help of Cam, though it is mostly the promise of free beer that decides the vacationing copper to join the investigation. Together Cam and Honeywether uncover the identity of the naked corpse, connect a spate of thefts of artwork and artifacts from local churches to the murder, and unravel a web of deceit and cover-ups...

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. Apart from gregarious and engaging Betsey Rowan and her entertaining gang of students, there is a cast of lively and eccentric characters. These include: spinsterish Miss Cornthwaite who is nearly done in by the ruthless villains in an astonishing sequence along a cliff side; Red Cowdrey, a cantankerous old man with a reputation for smuggling and other unscrupulous business; John Briarley, a visiting historian and antiquarian, obsessed with getting the best possible rubbing from the Pollpen brass and many others. Leading the investigation is a nearly incompetent and irascible local policeman named Honeywether who enlists the help of Cam, though it is mostly the promise of free beer that decides the vacationing copper to join the investigation. Together Cam and Honeywether uncover the identity of the naked corpse, connect a spate of thefts of artwork and artifacts from local churches to the murder, and unravel a web of deceit and cover-ups...