gadetection

Berrow, Norman

Page history last edited by Jon Jermey 3 yrs ago

Norman Berrow was a New Zealander, though none of his novels is set there. He was married, spent some time in Gibraltar in the 30s (his early books are set there and he seems to have known the place pretty well), and was in the military service for six years during and just after World War II.

Berrow's books have been reissued and are available at Ramble House

I recently finished two "Detective-Inspector Lancelot Carolus Smith" mysteries by the somewhat obscure New Zealand author Norman Berrow-- The Spaniard's Thumb (1949) and The Footprints of Satan (1950)--both set in the small English town of Winchingham, a town which has more than its fair share of impossible mysteries with seemingly supernatural causes. And while the Detective-Inspector might moan about the absurdity of the situations he's faced with, it's not long before he discovers the human agent behind the "mystification and moonshine" (or should that be "jiggery-pokery"?)

Harry Vincent