Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Coffin, Scarcely Used by Colin Watson

Coffin, Scarcely Used  by Colin Watson (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1958) is the first of 12 gently sardonic and clever police procedurals featuring Inspector Walter Purbright and Detective Sergeant Sidney Love in the prosperous market and port town of Flaxborough in East Anglia. Flaxborough is supposedly a fictionalized version of a town in Lincolnshire where Watson was a journalist.

The passing of former justice of the peace Harold Carobleat did not occasion much comment from the Flaxborough populace, always quick to criticize, except to make them wonder at the smallness of his funeral cortege and the speed with which his profitable ship brokerage closed thereafter. However, six months later the peculiar demise of his neighbor, Marcus Gwill, owner of the town newspaper, apparently electrocuted in a field near his house, brought the local police out in full force and kicked gossip into overdrive.

The victim’s friends are strangely close-mouthed and his housekeeper is convinced the house is haunted. His attorney demands police protection but won’t describe the threat he perceives. Then there are the newspaper advertisements for which Gwill took personal responsibility, offering antiques for sale, even though he was not known to own any. Even more puzzling are the responses to the advertisements expressing interest, each of which contains eight pounds.

Purbright gets little assistance from his supervisor Chief Constable Mr. Harcourt Chubb, who is anxious to wrap the case up and threatens to call in Scotland Yard to do so. The doddering and irritable Coroner likewise is more interested in speedy conclusions than accurate ones, creating great pressure for Purbright to get to the bottom of things rapidly.

Deviously plotted with a deliciously jaundiced view of Flaxborough’s morals and manners, this story was published too late to be considered true Golden Age but it is a praise-worthy addition to the lists of classic detective stories.

The new Kindle release of this book was used as the basis for this review.

·         File Size: 670 KB

·         Print Length: 210 pages

·         Publisher: Farrago (February 22, 2018)

·         Publication Date: February 22, 2018

·         Language: English

·         ASIN: B079JHF82B

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.