Scales of Justice Rodderick Alleyn Series, Book 18

A brutal murder with a golf club and an ingenious plot bursting with snobbery, suspicion , adultery and secrets --" to say nothing of the dreadful crime of catricide-- The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in a beautiful stream which winds past their homes. Then one of their small community is found brutally murdered; beside him is the freshly killed trout. Both died by violence --" but Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn--TMs murder investigation seems to be much more interested in the fish-- Of all the books in the Alleyn series, Scales of Justice is most powerfully reminiscent of Agatha Christie, with its setting in an almost unspeakably charming little English village, and its cast of inbred aristocrats. When one of the aristos turns up dead next to the local trout-stream with, in fact, a trout at his side everyone is dreadfully upset, of course, but really, just a tad irritated as well: Murder is so awfully messy. Thank gawd that nice Inspector Alleyn not really one of us, you know, but not terribly wide of the mark is on hand to clear things up. Though one could wish that he didnt feel compelled to ask quite so many questions. A country Eden blooms with murderSwevenings village is pretty as a picture, but its secrets are ugly; and its gentry dread the publication of Sir Harold Lacklander's memoirs. When one of them is murdered, Inspector Roderick Alleyn's investigation takes him through petty vendettas, an ex-commander's blend of whiskey and archery, and cocktails on the lawn with a femme fatale. But the motive he's angling for lies even deeper than the trout stream beneath the rustic bridge... Colonel Cartarette's body lies sprawled beside the River Chyne, beside him is the giant trout he has been trying to catch for years. They both died by violence - but it is the fish that will be playing the starring role in the murder investigation. Kriminalroman fra et lille landsbysamfund, hvor chief inspector Alleyn skal opklare et brutalt mord Nurse Kettle pushed her bicycle to the top of Watt's Hill and there paused.