The Spoilt Kill: A Staffordshire Mystery

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Spoilt Kill: A Staffordshire Mystery
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Mary Kelly
Introduction by Martin Edwards
SeriesBritish Library Crime Classics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:224
Dimensions(mm): Height 190,Width 130
Category/GenreCrime and mystery
Classic crime
ISBN/Barcode 9780712353366
ClassificationsDewey:823.914
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher British Library Publishing
Imprint British Library Publishing
Publication Date 10 May 2020
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Staffordshire in the 1950s. Within the clay tanks at the pottery company Shentall's, a body has been found. Amid cries of industrial espionage and sabotage of this leader of the pottery industry, there is a case of bitter murder to solve for Inspector Hedley Nicholson. Kelly's mystery won the CWA Gold Dagger Award in 1961 for its impeccable sense of place and detail, and for the emotional weight of its central crime. The novel is part of a shift from the cosiness of crime novels before to mysteries characterised by their psychological interest and affecting realism. An influential classic.

Author Biography

Mary Kelly (1927-2017) was an English crime writer best known for the Inspector Brett Nightingale series and her Gold Dagger Award-winning novel The Spoilt Kill. The Christmas Egg, first published in 1958 and republished by the British Library in 2019, is another fine example of her unique and unconventional mystery writing.