Bump in the Night

Excellent , A throughly enjoyable mystery.
Review scheduled for release date .

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago for the advance digital review copy.

Another neatly written and enjoyable instalment in the Flaxborough Chronicles and another triumph for the investigative powers of Inspector Purbright who has been dispatched to Chalmsbury to look into a series of mysterious “blowings-up”.

When the fourth explosion results in a death, has the mystery been solved…or not? Purbright’s gentle persistence, and refusal to accept the obvious, leads to the solution and a rather melancholy conclusion to the case. This was a little more difficult to work out than the murder in Book 1..

As ever, Watson’s knowledge of the venalities of small town politics is ably utilised, and his sardonic wit is well to the fore. Councillors, policemen, shopkeepers, journalists and landladies are among those whose foibles are pinpointed. These portrayals stop, cleverly, just short of caricature.

Very readable and highly entertaining. A must for fans of English mysteries with a humorous twist

So happy that this series has been brought back. Inspector Purbright 's sardonic wit and humorous asides are a delight. The plot is preposterous, the characters eccentric and the writing is great. It's such a pleasure to read.

First published 60 years ago in England, the Flaxborough Chronicles feature Inspector Purbright in the quiet town of Flaxborough. In his second adventure, Purbright is sent to the nearby town of Chalmsbury to look into a series of bombings. First a memorial water fountain was demolished in an explosion, then the head was removed from a statue with another bomb, and an antique optometrist's sign was blown to smithereens. Who could be doing this and what are their motives? The local police chief doesn't seem too motivated to solve the crimes, but a delegation from the town council has him request help - and Purbright comes to town.

The characters are almost caricatures of small town life. There are adulterous wives, odd political alliances, local gossips, and even a young reporter with dreams of breaking a big story. The Inspector walks a carefully balanced path through all the secrets, innuendoes, and finger-pointing among the town's residents. As an outsider, it is hard for him to know which details might prove important to the case and which will send him off down a rabbit hole. Is it relevant that the police chief is the son-in-law of a council member? Do the ridiculous practical jokes of the trucking company's owner play into the explosions? It seems that the more the police uncover, the less hope there is that any of it will tie together and help them close the case.

Readers who enjoy Miss Marple and mysteries set in small English towns full of eccentric residents will welcome having this series drawn to their attention.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago for an advance copy of A Bump in the Night, the second novel in the Flaxborough series to feature Inspector Purbright, originally published in 1962.

The neighbouring town of Chalmbury is experiencing some strange events with various well known landmarks being blown up. As DCI Larch doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously the Chief Constable sends Inspector Purbright to take a different angle on these explosions.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Bump in the Night as it made me laugh out loud on several occasions. The plot is tricky enough to hold the reader's interest but it is the farcical nature of the initial scenario which brings the humour - the blowing up of a water fountain.

The plot premise was probably fairly ingenious and perhaps a bit risqué at the time of writing but can now be regarded as rather standard but it's well done and held my interest throughout. Mr Watson's skill lies in his characterisation and the humour he draws from their actions and reactions. I love the trainee reporter and his desperation to imitate his heroes at The Sun - it would seem that not much has changed there in 50+ years. It's delicious. The optician's revenge is another one.

Throughout it all the enigmatic Inspector Purbright chats to, rather than interviews, the main players and throws a strong light on middle England and its foibles. It is accurate and humorous without being malicious. As befits the fashion of the time we learn little of the inspector beyond he's pleasant, looks rather naïve and has blond hair.

A Bump in the Night is a pleasant step back in time which I have no hesitation in recommending as a good read.

This engaging series is new to me and I am so happy to have been introduced to the characters. British mystery is one of my favorite sub-genres and this one is superbly written.

Sardonic writing makes this series a delight - the petty politics of English suburbia remind me a little of the Mapp and Lucia books... but 40 years later and with added murder!

Strange happenings again in Flaxborough. And yet another convoluted path leads us on a journey that must be read to be believed.

Very different mystery, not as good as Watson's previous book, but not too shabby either. The stories re quite involved and there are lots of false starts and ends. The dry humour is very entertaining, and make the book very entertaining.

It may be that I am easily amused by absurd domestic drama. I remember as a kid howling over Thurber's "The Night the Bed Fell" and just now, as I prepared to write this review I laughed at it all over again. (It's on the New Yorker website.)

"Bump in the Night" had me laughing out loud over and over. I am sure I shall never forget a man who walks the streets on full moon nights to avoid his "tidally amorous" housekeeper. Or them man whose neck is like pink luncheon meat squeezed out of a can. This isn't modern humor and it is hilarious.

There is a mystery too, the question of who blew up the philandering Mr. Biggadyke (silly surnames abound in this series), it could have been suicide, though, and it's up to Detective Inspector Purbright to sort it all out. It's a lot of fun to watch him do it.

I received a review copy of "Bump in the Night: Flaxborough Mystery Book 2" by Colin Watson (Farrago) through NetGalley.com. It was first published in 1960 in the UK and USA and has been reissued several times.

A tidy mystery peopled with thoroughly awful villagers and a resolution that makes sense if you let your mind just sort of wander around the conclusion and don't ask too many questions. Mr. Watson has a crisp, wry writing style, a clear enjoyment of human foibles, and a loose commitment to narrative clarity. I like it, but readers who really want a "fair play" approach may feel a bit shirty.

Highly entertaining, clever, full of amusing eccentric characters, this is a must read for fans of English mysteries!

Replete with red herrings, BUMP IN THE NIGHT is the second book in the Flaxborough Mystery series. Originally published in 1959, it is another kinder, gentler, more polite police procedural where folks call each other Mister so-and-so or, in the case of policemen, by their rank as in Mr. Purbright or Inspector.

Once again, I am compelled to note that reading this series is much like watching BBC offerings like "Midsomer Murders" or "Father Brown." I have often commented that Midsomer is a really dangerous place to live. I'm beginning to think of Flaxborough in the same way.

BUMP IN THE NIGHT takes place in the town of Chalmsbury, one of Flaxboroughs many towns and villages, where a series of explosions have occurred flummoxing the local constabulary. Enter Inspector Purbright, from CID.

The locals of Chalmsbury are a tight knit lot. Everybody knows everything about everybody. There seems little ability to keep oneself to oneself. Watson paints a picture that comes alive in the mind's eye.

Although reference is made to the first book in the series, COFFIN, SCARCELY USED, there is no absolute reason to read it first. However, if you start at the beginning, you will have had the pleasure of meeting Inspector Purbright, and you will be familiar with his methods. I have always found reading a series most enjoyable when I read from end to end. It's like meeting a new friend and getting to know them over time.

The next stop on my journey of discovery is HOPJOY WAS HERE.

In his second book, Purbright was put into invidious circumstances in order to discover what was really happening in another village. Innuendoes and indiscretions are all part of the nature of this village’s residents. The author’s succinct descriptions of people and places are like short stories themselves about the people and places.

It takes a bit of time to get into Colin Watson's books. You have to adjust to his style of writing. But a couple chapters in, everything starts to click. The characters are great and the humor is subtle. I enjoyed getting to know Flaxborough.

Bump In the Night is the second book of the Flaxborough series (after Coffin, Scarcely Used) and if anything I enjoyed it even more than the first. This time, a series of small nocturnal explosions destroys a drinking fountain, a statue and the like in Chalmsbury, and eventually Inspector Purbright is called in from neighbouring Flaxborough to investigate as matters become more serious.

It's a decent plot which maintains interest (although I'd spotted the culprit well before Purbright did), but the chief pleasures of Colin Watson's books are his wonderfully dry, witty style and his brilliant portraits of the characters which inhabit his small, fictional towns. People like the editor of the local newspaper, his over-eager, cliché-prone cub reporter, the local Councillors and others are quite brilliantly drawn and the reality beneath outward respectability is very neatly skewered. It is also worth saying that the book is about half the length of a typical modern crime novel and is all the better for it, in my view.

A couple of brief passages may give you a flavour. Purbright spends a night at a supposedly superior small-town hotel "where he had been ill-fed and insulted by a staff who behaved like émigré dukes," and later visits a room in a boarding house: "The room was as he had last seen it; tidy, ordinary, and wear the faintly depressing air common to all apartments, whether prison cells or bed-sitters, in which a man must share his dreams with his shoe brushes."

I have only recently discovered Colin Watson, but I am coming to regard him as a treat to be looked forward to. I have no doubt that I shall read the whole Flaxborough series as they are reissued, and I'm looking forward to them enormously. Very warmly recommended.

(My thanks to Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Bump in the Night is the second book in the Flaxborough Mystery series being republished by UK publisher Farrago. It was originally published in 1960 and is quite a nice little glimpse into British village life of that era. Colin Watson (1920-1983) had a delightfully fun way of writing, spearing each of his often stuffy, pompous characters with incisive descriptions. The mystery in this police procedural keeps you guessing right up to the end, which I quite appreciated. A fun, quick read with humor and heart.

Many thanks to Farrago and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this delightful old chestnut of a detective story. I hope you bring back all twelve!

I didn't like this as much as I liked the first in the series - but I think that may be because it took quite a while for Inspector Purbright to get called in to look into the mystery. It's still good fun and the mystery is intriguing, with a bit of a twist and the characters are eccentric enough to make you smile as well as wonder which of them did the crime.

This is my second book by this author and, I believe, the second in this series. I have read the first one, and actually enjoyed this book's mystery more. It is a little ridiculous (in the vein of Father Brown), but definitely a good read and page turner!

I love English mysteries and again this author did not fail to impress. I love the author’s wry tone. Inspector Purbright will be a continued favorite character for me.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

I loved the first book in the A Flaxborough Mystery Series: Coffin, Scarcely Used and was eager to get to book 2: Bump in the Night. This series by British author Colin Watson from the 1950s/60s is being re-released in electronic form, and I’m thrilled to have discovered them through Netgalley.

That said, I’d urge you to start with book one, because book two wouldn’t have hooked me by itself. It can be read as a stand-alone, but the charm of its protagonist would be missing.

Bump in the Night is set in a town nearby to Flaxborough, named Chalmsbury. It begins with a middle-of-the-night explosion that destroys a statue/water fountain in a local park that had been dedicated to a local luminary. A series of similar unexplained explosions follows. The shocked and entertained locals discuss the events for a few chapters before the police chief, Inspector Hector Larch, becomes involved. As an inspector, he’s clearly out of his league. His method is a rather prejudiced bullying of whatever witness he comes across in the hopes of extracting a confession. The townspeople know him too well, however, to be bullied. He is aided by a young policeman named Worple who is more intelligent and possibly more capable. But the reader’s introduction to Worple shows him as somewhat lazy and obstructionist, so it’s hard to get behind him as the investigation proceeds.

The townspeople are, as in Coffin, Scarcely Used, a collection of oddball characters/caricatures. But they are not as endearing as those of Flaxborough. The physical descriptions are still written with the dry wit of book one, but some seem more labored. The characters’ quirks are more irritating, their habits more tawdry. And Larch’s aggressive and ineffective methods give the book a meandering, aimless feeling.

Thankfully, just as I was wondering if it was worth plodding on, Inspector Purbright is called in from neighboring Flaxborough. What a relief! Continuity was restored to the series and the clever, good-souled detective shows up to move things along. Pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. The townspeople reveal hidden depths–not all that deep, but at least they are less one-dimensional. The pace picks up and I am intrigued by the crime.

Obviously, I wasn’t as enamored of book two as I was of book one, and yet, on the whole, it was a satisfying read. Purbright remains a compelling protagonist. Hopefully, he will be more present in book 3, because I’m still a fan of the series and want to see what he does next.

I just finished this, the second in the series, and will be starting the third as soon as I finish this review. These books were originally published in the 1950's and may at first glance look like light-hearted British Procedurals, and they are, but they are so much more.
First off, they are incredibly well written. Watson had a wonderful mastery of the English language and the book is very witty and reveals a dry sense of humor. The main detective,Pulbright, is understated, and therefore, underestimated by his peers, but is very sharp and effective.
The book will please, the ending will surprise and you'll be glad you read this book.

I really enjoyed this story. It is a classic British cozy. The characters are well written, the story moves along and there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing. I look forward to reading more in this series..

If you've yet to discover the joys of Purbright's patch then you are missing out. This, the second in the series, does not disappoint. Colin Watson does not 'just' produce a whodunnit but a world to savour, beautifully written and packed with clever, dry and wry humour. A rollicking good read not to be missed. Lovers of a clever mystery will enjoy.

Bump in the night started off with quite a bit of descriptipn but quickly got to the mystery. Good twists and turns and a good end

Skulduggery in Middle England... 5 stars

Chalmsbury is normally a quiet town with at least a veneer of respectability. So it's a bit of a shock when the residents have their sleep disturbed one Tuesday night when somebody blows up the local drinking fountain. A prankster, is the general feeling, but when on the following Tuesday a statue unfortunately loses its head in another blast, people want the police to get to the bottom of it before more damage is done. The problem is the local Inspector is friends with the man the townsfolk suspect is responsible. So suddenly Inspector Purbright from the neighbouring town of Flaxborough finds himself drafted in...

Colin Watson wrote the twelve books that make up the Flaxborough Chronicles over a period stretching from 1958 to 1982, with this second in the series dating from 1960. Like many series, the books improve for the first two or three, hit a peak in the middle of the series, and then tail off a little towards the end, but even the less good ones are still way ahead of most of the competition. This one loses a little for me by having the action moved to Chalmsbury, which means that we don't see much of the regular cast of characters who appear in the ones based in Flaxborough itself. But it has its own cast of deliciously quirky characters to make up for that lack, and has the same sly and wicked wit, poking fun at the respectable middle-classes of Middle England.

The books are peculiarly suited to the '50s and early '60s – a time when class structures were still fairly rigid in Britain, and people were judged as much by their professional role as by their character, but when the first breezes of the winds of change of the later '60s were beginning to be felt. The joy of Watson is that he takes delight in letting the reader peek at the scandals hidden behind the lace curtains of the outwardly respectable. It's quietly subversive, and must have seemed even more so at the time.

In this one, the action takes place mainly among the shop and business owners of the town, and Purbright soon finds that most of them are willing to gossip about their friends and neighbours. There's a good deal to gossip about – everything from drunk driving to murky business dealings to marital infidelity goes on regularly, and everyone knows everyone else's business. The solution seems perfectly obvious from early on, so you can be sure that won't turn out to be the real one in the end. Underneath all the humour and light social commentary, there's an excellent plot, full of motives, alibis and clues, and it's not long before the destruction of property escalates to a death and a murder investigation. These books are a little too late to really count as Golden Age from a strict time point of view, but they have that feel about them, only with added hanky-panky. Often Watson makes an oblique innuendo and leaves it to the reader's mind to fill in the blanks, and I always imagine him winking cheekily as he does so...

I can never think of these books without the word skulduggery coming into my mind – everybody, except Purbright, is always up to something they shouldn't be, but it's mainly mild naughtiness rather than outright badness.

A delight – books I revisit often and enjoy anew every time. They've been quite hard to get hold of for some time, so I'm happy to see that Farrago are issuing them as e-books. If you've never met Inspector Purbright, give yourself a treat – these books are guaranteed to chase the blues away...

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Farrago.

Excerpt posted here - full review posted on 26 March

From the local prankster to various eccentrics in the town, Pulbright is steadily interviewing, gathering facts and impressions, and working his way to a conclusion. Characters drawn with a sly, often surprising sense of the absurd, humor and a sharp eye for character abound – from overeager reporters to overly snobby hotel staff: no character is untouched by the keen wit and sharply clever prose. That is, in fact, the joy in these stories for the flow and language add to the reader’s visualization and enjoyment, and in this one at least, the culprit was easy to suss out. Bringing the sensibilities of a Christie novel, the story is about uncovering a motive and reason, rather than focusing on the more salacious elements of gore, gunshots and fast-paced chases. If you enjoy a British murder mystery, particularly those that harken back to the ‘good old days’, this is a series to put on your shelf.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9Gy/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

I was a great idea to re-release this series which I'd never heard of before. I'm an Anglophile and enjoyed visiting Flaxborough in the English countryside with all its quirky characters. Is there a TV series?

Time for another visit to Flaxborough County! This is book 2 in the series and this time around we have a serial bomber in the village of Chalmesbury. After 3 bomb attacks the local council requests the help of Inspector Purbright in tracking down the perpetrator. But just as he’s getting started a 4th bomb results in a murder. Turns out not many people liked the victim and the list of suspects includes just about everybody. Purbright must use all his cunning to sort out the facts from the rumors if he’s going to get his man.

I am still delighted with Inspector Purbright. The author doesn’t offer anything in the way of background, at least not yet, but I just can’t help but be charmed. I especially enjoy reading his interrogation scenes, almost none of which take place in a police station. He’s very clever and casual with his question and always pull more out of his suspect than you would expect. The village of Chalmesbury is a hotbed of intrigue as it turns out and I got completely sucked in by the red herrings in this one. The ending was a complete surprise. I’m so glad this series is being re-released because it’s just such a pleasure to read.

What a marvelous idea it was to re-release this series. Those of us who did not read it the first time around can now experience the joy of visiting Flaxborough, and I'm ready to visit for a long time.

Bump in the Night is the second in the Flaxborough Mystery series by Colin Watson. The time is around 1957 or 1958. The place is the English village of Flaxborough and the surrounding countryside. We are back with Inpector Purbright, who cleared up that brothel and butchery business last year, but first we have to spend some time in the nearby town of Chalmsbury with the very unpleasant Chief Inspector Hector Larch and a cast of very quirky characters. A lot of quirky characters. Most of whom are not very likeable. For example, one prominent fellow is described as the kind of guy who would "Give her a nice smile, and then slowly pull her head off like a prawn's, and wouldn't fall out with you until he's got a grave dug ready." Hmmm.

We start right off with Councilor Oswald Pointer, Chalmsbury wholesale wine merchant, calling the police, with more than a little attitude, to report the loud noise he's just heard. Desk Sergeant Worple retaliates by being as unhelpful as he can be - you can just hear it in your head - you've either been there or done that. And Pointer, being the (un)likeable chap that he is, gets his petty little revenge after hanging up on the police by slamming his wife's bedroom door to scare her, and then pretending to be asleep when she comes to tell him she heard something.

Things are blowing-up in Chalmsbury on Tuesday evenings - a drinking fountain, a sculpture, an optician's hanging eye, and a bloody head blown off. And there is a real mystery here, not just a bunch of goofy people blowing up silly objects. Things get serious and sinister and dangerous and Inspector Larch isn't having much luck solving the mystery. So Inspector Purbright from Flaxborough is brought in to figure out who in Chalmsbury is a murderer.

But solid as the plot is and as engaging the mystery, it's the words, the words, the words that hook you and keep you hooked. Colin Watson seemed to be a firm believer in why use just one word when several will do. The way he wrote, there is no such thing as too many words. The town is populated with run-of-the-mill characters - wine merchant, haulage broker, optician, jeweler, theatre manager, newpaper editor and reporter, park keeper, as well as some not so run-of the mill: the rhymer, the chronic confessor, the genially promiscuous woman, the fit thrower, and the kleptomaniacal housekeeper. The vivid descriptions of their quirks and slightly mad, slightly dangerous interactions and practical jokes produced images that made me smile and chuckle and laugh out loud.

Just picture this: "Dignitaries: One end's so like t'other it's a wonder that when they take their hats off they're not run in for indecent exposure." "His hands clasped behind him looked like a pair of courting Flamborough crabs." "Alderman Arnold Berry was no longer regarding the wide world with that straining-at-stool expression that denotes, in the convention of public sculpture, a man of high but unpopular principles." "His reasoning was conditioned by regular absorption of the Daily Sun." "Marriage with the light on, he decided, would be rather awful." I could go on and on, but you want to read these books for yourself and enjoy these deft turns of phrase for yourself.

Bump in the Night was even more satisfying, if possible, than Coffin Scarcely Used, the first book in the series, because this time I had learned the drill: look for clues, pay close attention to the people, and even closer attention to the words.

I received a copy of Bump in the Night from NetGally and Farrago Books. I loved it, highly recommend it, and am starting Hopjoy was Here as soon as I submit this review.

Things are generally peaceful in the country town of Chelmsford until one Tuesday night when a municipal drinking fountain is blown up. On succeeding Tuesday nights, a statue of a local worthy loses its head in an explosion, and a local oculist loses his treasured premises sign which features a giant glass eye. Oddly enough the chief of police in Chelmsford is always away on Tuesday nights at the civil defense center. The town has its prime suspect, prankster and almost universally disliked Stan Biggadyke, a longtime friend of the police chief. When a life is lost in the next explosion and explosives are discovered missing at the civil defense center, the Chief Constable calls in DI Purbright of Flaxborough.

Filled with sly humor and well-drawn portraits of the various eccentric inhabitants of Chelmsford, Bump in the Night is a delightful classic mystery. Knowing that Colin Watson was a career journalist makes the character of the eager cub reporter, Len Leaper, even more enjoyable. Len's idea of being a midnight sleuth makes for some hilarious scenes.

The Chelmsford Chronicles are perfect, quick reads for fans of classic mysteries. Thanks to Farrago Books, both for bringing them back and for providing me with an advance copy; also thanks to NetGalley. The opinions are my own

In this, the second of these charming and gentle mysteries, it is not until halfway through the book that Detective Inspector Purbright is called in to investigate the mystery bombings which have been the focus of the story so far. Again his course is unrushed giving us time to appreciate the clues and the fine characterisations and, of course, Colin Watson’s intelligent wit.

This is a follow-up on the series after the last book (Coffin Scarcely Used (Flaxborough Chronicles, #1) by Colin Watson ). This was a different mystery than the ones I have read in a while and therefore was interesting to pursue.Initially though, I felt a strong undercurrent of misogynist tendencies in terms of the depiction of the women involved in the story. Towards the middle, such thoughts were attribute to slimy characters and I was able to overcome that original mild distaste.Also, since the books were written very early on and by a man (a lot of the books I have read from that period were actually written by women), I circumvented that thought and moved on to the actual appreciation of the sardonic humour presented in the tale.

This story starts off benignly enough, with a bump in the night(as the title points out). This is reported to the police though no action is taken immediately. Slowly we are given the bigger picture of the town and its inhabitants. Also, there are more small bombs detonated every week. By the time the fourth comes around there is an actual person harmed. The main hero from the last book, Detective Inspector Purbright, makes his entry almost towards the middle of the book. He is brought in order to ensure that crime is not being concealed by the higher-ups in town.There are a lot of bends in the route before all is revealed. It is the conversations and the people involved that makes this book very interesting to read.I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series that I have already downloaded onto my Kindle.

Bump in the Night by Colin Watson is a 2018 Farrago publication. (First published in 1960)

The Flaxborough Chronicles by Colin Watson is a mystery series, which began in 1958 and ran through the mid-1980s. Farrago has reissued the series in digital format and has given the covers a new and improved look.

I had never heard of this author or series until I discovered them on Netgalley a while back. What a terrific find!

In this second installment, the country town of Chalmsbury is experiencing a spate of explosions, decimating objects like a statues and park fountains. It could be a the handiwork of a prankster, but then the pranks turn deadly.

The characters in this procedural, which might also appeal to cozy mystery fans, are so quirky and the dialogue is often hilarious. The story is so absorbing, with a unique plot, which is packed with some very interesting details, as the underbelly of the quaint country town is exposed. It is obvious the author put a lot of thought into the story. While this is a short book it packs a nice punch and is wildly entertaining.

I am so thrilled Farrago has reissued these books. The series and this author are underrated, in my opinion. I’d love to see the books get a little overdue recognition.
4.5 stars