Bruce, Leo - Death at St Asprey's School (1967)

A late and rather gloomy outing for Carolus Deene when an unpopular English master is killed by an arrow at a small private boys' boarding school. Jennings notwithstanding, I've never been able to look on boarding schools with anything but horror and loathing, and St. Asprey's is no exception. Bruce hits his stride now and again with depictions of the efficient gossip network and the colourful working-class characters that service the school, but the overall effect is a dreary grey. Why are so many English novels of the Sixties so morose?

Jon.