Bush, Christopher - The Case of the Prodigal Daughter (1968)

C

Bush’s last novel, and a far cry from the GA Baroque works of the 1930s, with their emphasis on unbreakable alibis.  This is very much a product of the 1960s, addressing such topical concerns as the generation gap (parental control vs. teenage rebellion), changing moral standards (the missing girl’s mother runs an organisation called Home and Family, suspiciously similar to Mary Whitehouse’s NVALA), drugs, pop music, television, and pornography.  For all his dislike for pop music and most of television, Bush’s sympathies are with the missing Beryl, and against her control freak mother.  Bush’s eye for how Britain changes over time (reflected in the way his books become more “hard-boiled”) is comparable to Agatha Christie’s.

The story is very short (166 pp.) and fast moving, without any longueurs.  However, while the plot is soundly constructed, it’s not inspired—there’s little ingenuity (the murderer is the chief suspect), but skill in putting the jigsaw puzzle together.

Would a TV series, similar in style to the Cathy Gale Avengers, work?

Nick Fuller.