Devilishly good…
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
The Flaxborough Citizen tells the worthy people of the town that the Folklore Society’s revel to celebrate Roodmas was well attended. It sounds like it was a fun do, with a discussion of old traditions round a bonfire, followed by refreshments and dancing. But sometimes newspapers don’t tell the whole story…
Naked as on the day she was born, save for a double-looped string of amber beads and a pair of harlequin-framed spectacles, Mrs Flora Pentatuke, of 33 Partney Avenue, Flaxborough, leaped nimbly over the embers of the fire.
The next day, it is discovered one of the revellers, a promiscuous young lady by the name of Edna Hillyard, has gone missing, leaving only her car and her neatly folded clothes behind her. Inspector Purbright is at first inclined to think that she’s simply gone off for a bit of jiggery-pokery, but when the newspapers begin to print lurid reports that black magic and witchcraft have turned respectable little Flax into the Town of Fear, he realises he’ll have to take it all a bit more seriously. Especially when some of the town’s prominent citizens become the targets of witchly curses…
Of all twelve of the Flaxborough Chronicles, this is the one I love best. I think Watson peaked here, finding the perfect story with which to lampoon all his favourite targets at once. As always, he pulls aside the net curtains of respectability to let us glimpse the salacious shenanigans going on behind them. But his humour on the subject of sex is of the saucy seaside postcard variety – more “Ooh, you are awful!” than Fifty Shades of Grey. Class is as prevalent in Watson’s books as it is in British society, and he has a delicious lack of reverence for the town’s worthies as, indeed, does Inspector Purbright. It’s a joy to see him manipulating his Chief Constable, Mr Chubb – a man who finds it hard to accept that his social equals could possibly be up to any kind of skulduggery.
….Pook nodded at Miss Parkin’s sapience and looked again at the Citizen report while he drank some coffee and demolished the rest of the KreemiKrunch.
….“What’s a faggot-master?” he inquired.
….Mrs Gloss frowned. “If you must know, we generally have a little bonfire to brighten up our outdoor meetings, and Mr Cowdrey looks after it. He has had experience with the Scouts.”
….“I know,” Pook said, without looking up from the paper. He somehow made the acknowledgement sound like a notice of impending prosecution.
What makes this one stand out even more is the inclusion of the Lucillite campaign, complete with the Lucies – a group of girls going door-to-door as part of the drive to persuade the ladies of the houses to change their laundry detergent. First published in 1972, Watson ruthlessly lampoons the advertising campaigns of the day to persuade women that all their troubles could be solved by changing to a new brand of soap powder, thus enabling them to achieve an idyllic marriage by ensuring their husbands’ shirts are whiter than white. At the same time, he mercilessly mocks the kind of marketing lingo that was coming into vogue then (and still exists in some of our sadder companies – I speak from bitter experience!).
….“An ad-clens revolution. A turn round of the whole concept. Everything up to now has been slanted on women wanting to please men. But do they?”
….“Exactly. Do they? We’ve been hammering away for years on this whiteness thing. And why? Because Motivational Research said whiteness represented lost virginity.”
….“Every washday the woman got her hymen back so she could offer it again to her mate. Sure, sure. You remember the Vurj campaign, Richard? Always a shot of washwife handing the Vurj pack to man in white hubbyshirt.”
….“God! How off-beam can one get? Listen, this is how I see it, Gordon. Copulation equals children equals drudgegrudge. Right?”
….“Right.”
All the regulars are here – Purbright and Chubb, Sergeant Love of the innocent face and rather less innocent mind, and Miss Teatime, up to her delicately feminine armpits in Psychical Research. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, the plot’s excellent too. If I haven’t persuaded you to read any of the other books, I’ll take one last stab at letting Mr Watson persuade you to read this one…
….“Well,” said Gordon, “you’ve heard about industrial sabotage. Right?” He pointed at the prints, opened his mouth, shut it again, and began walking rapidly up and down. He stopped and pointed once more at the prints. “Right?”
….“The lady with the very odd eyes,” Miss Teatime began.
….“Agent,” snapped Gordon. “From P and Q probably. Or C and H. KGB even.”
….Miss Teatime looked shocked. “The Russians?”
….“Kleen-Gear Biological. Do I have to spell it out for you?”
Fabulous!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Farrago.
Oh, the wit in this sounds fantastic, FictionFan! And I do like the writing style. It takes a gifted writer, I think, to be able to lampoon like that without going over the topic or just being mean-spirited. And it sounds as though this one hits that delicate balance. What fun! Glad you enjoyed this so well.
He really does get the balance right and never forgets to have a proper plot too. This one is by far the funniest, I think, although they’re all good – great for palate-cleansing or brightening up a blue day! 😀
Sounds like a good one! Great review 🙂
Thank you! 😀 I love this series, and especially this book. One of my desert island books, for sure…
Just the thing to brighten up an otherwise dull – you thought I was going to say washing didn’t you? Weekend!
Hahaha – be careful or I’ll start referring to you as a washwife… 😉
I don’t recall ever hearing of this one, FF. How nice to end the week on an upbeat note! But leaping naked over the embers of a fire? Certainly not a sport for the faint-of-heart, right?!
They went out of print for several years, I think, but happily they’re getting a second lease of life now. Hahaha – it’s certainly one way to keep warm… 😉
I’m sure I’ve read some Colin Watson in the dim and distant past but I couldn’t tell you what. I must get out there and investigate him again because I wouldn’t remember the name if I hadn’t enjoyed him.
I loved the Flaxborough books when I was young and then they seemed to go out of print for years, so I’m delighted they’re getting a second lease of life now. Well worth seeking out – they’re ideal for brightening up a blue day… 😀
This was a fun review 🙂 I went to add this author to my list and then realised I I already had – last time you reviewed him!
Hurrah! I think you should read the other eleven first, though, and save this one for last – such fun! Will you be leaping over your bonfire at Hallowe’en? 😉
We don’t have bonfires at Halloween in Australia, but if I happen to see one and feel like leaping I’ll keep my clobber on! Halloween has only come to Australia recently, Australian children have ony just begun dressing up and trick or treating, which isn’t popular with everyone…
Yes, trick or treating is new over here too and not greatly liked by adults. It used to be that kids dressed up and went round doors performing their “party piece” – a poem or song or joke. That was much more fun. They still always wanted to take my chocolate away from me though… 😡
What do you mean, they take your chocolate? Nooooo!
I know! It’s so cruel! But I just wear my lion disguise and roar at them till they cry… 😈
This sounds hilarious! The premise is great and the quotes you pulled so witty. I will definitely be hunting down a copy of this at the library 🙂
I do hope you can find one – they’ve been out of print in paper for years, I think, and this re-release seems to only be for Kindle versions. They’re so much fun and full of humour, but with proper plots too – great fun! 😀
This sounds like such good fun.
The whole series is. but this one especially – love them! 😀
“Saucy Seaside Variety”-FF you have such a way with words! I love reading your reviews for your amazing phrases alone 🙂
Hahaha – thank you! 😀 I think I’m stuck in a different era… 😉
but it’s a great era all the same!
The good old days… 😉
This sounds brilliant and definitely one that I think I would enjoy although I’m sure a new washing powder would my life more fulfilling 😉
Hahaha – I miss those advertising campaigns. Do you remember the Shake’n’Vac ad? I still like to do that little dance while hoovering… 😉
😂 I remember it well but try to avoid hoovering 😉
It wasn’t as good as the Smash adverts, though. Ah, instant potato – what a treat! 😉
Okay, we must know more about this: “I speak from bitter experience.”
Haha – I spent several years working in the private sector and every company had it’s own jargon. (Secretly, the men were way more obsessed with using buzzwords and acronyms than the women – something to do with evolution, I expect… 😉 )
I put one of these on my Goodreads list the last time you reviewed one – still haven’t gotten around to it of course, ha ha! You know how that goes. But I’m glad this one has multiple excellent volumes!
Haha – I do indeed! But these are great and delightfully short, so great for if you’re ever having a blue day and need a bit of cheering up… 😀