Photo de l'auteur

W. J. Burley (1914–2002)

Auteur de Wycliffe and the Scapegoat

40+ oeuvres 1,866 utilisateurs 49 critiques 2 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Séries

Œuvres de W. J. Burley

Wycliffe and the Scapegoat (1978) 103 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Pea-Green Boat (1975) 99 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Guilt Edged Alibi (1971) 96 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Tangled Web (1988) 96 exemplaires
Wycliffe in Paul's Court (1980) 95 exemplaires
Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat (1970) 85 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin (1986) 85 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Winsor Blue (1987) 83 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Guild of Nine (2000) 82 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Three-Toed Pussy (1968) 81 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Four Jacks (1985) 80 exemplaires
Wycliffe's Wild Goose Chase (1982) 78 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Beales (1983) 75 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Cycle of Death (1988) 75 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Dead Flautist (1991) 72 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Last Rites (1992) 67 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the House of Fear (1995) 67 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Redhead (1997) 65 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Dunes Mystery (1993) 63 exemplaires
Wycliffe and the Schoolgirls (1976) 59 exemplaires
Death in Willow Pattern (1970) 34 exemplaires
Charles and Elizabeth (1979) 17 exemplaires
The House of Care (1981) 12 exemplaires
The Wycliffe Novels (Omnibus) (2011) — Auteur — 10 exemplaires
A Taste of Power (1966) 7 exemplaires
The Schoolmaster (1977) 7 exemplaires
Senza sapere perche' (1974) 1 exemplaire
Wycliffe 1 exemplaire

Oeuvres associées

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Nom canonique
Burley, W. J.
Nom légal
Burley, William John
Date de naissance
1914-08-01
Date de décès
2002-11-15
Sexe
male
Nationalité
UK
Lieu de naissance
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK
Lieux de résidence
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK
Okehampton, Devon, England, UK
Crewkerne, Somerset, England, UK
Camborne, Cornwall, England, UK
Études
University of Oxford (Balliol College)
Professions
teacher(biology)
business executive
crime novelist
author
Organisations
Home Guard (WWII)
Institution of British Engineers
Truro Gas Company (technical assistant ∙ assistant manger)
Okehampton Gas Company (manager)
Crime Writers' Association
Courte biographie
W.J. Burley started life as an engineer, and later went to Balliol College, Oxford, to read zoology as a mature student. On leaving Oxford, he went into teaching and, until his retirement, was senior biology master in a large mixed grammar school in Newquay. In 1966, at age 52, he created Inspector Wycliffe, setting the series of books in his native county of Cornwall. They were adapted into a television series in the 1990s. He was working on his 23rd Wycliffe novel, Wycliffe's Last Lap, when he died in 2002.

Membres

Critiques

One of a series of a police procedural known to me previously only through repeats of an old TV series. These books were reissued in the last decade or so, but the original date of this particular novel was actually 1971 so the lack of mobile phones and other modern technology - the police are typing up all their reports on typewriters, for example - might throw some readers. I wasn't too confused by that as I knew the repeated series had been made around the 1980s. The old date accounts for certain attitudes towards women, and for a nickname given to one character in his boyhood which involves an insulting term that certainly would not be allowed now; slightly odd that the publisher didn't adjust it as the nickname is used only once and in itself is not an important plot point.

The novel is fairly well written and moderately interesting, and is quite a short book printed with large font so a quick read, but I realised 'whodunnit' about half way through. There were some red herrings, mainly around the culprit's motive, in an attempt to throw the reader off, but on the next to last page, the protagonist Wycliffe states exactly the motive I had identified halfway through. So, nice to get it right, but usually crime novels come as a surprise at the end and this didn't. I don't think therefore I will bother with any more of these.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
kitsune_reader | 1 autre critique | Nov 23, 2023 |
 
Signalé
ritaer | 1 autre critique | Apr 18, 2021 |
Enjoyable but fairly light mystery thriller. A teenage girl school trip turns into a bullying incident with repercussions years later. Simple for mr wycliffe to solve and no real tension in the tale but good none the less.
 
Signalé
mick745 | 4 autres critiques | Apr 8, 2020 |
Not Wycliffe's best, I'm afraid. The story premise is interesting enough - six teenagers on a naughty weekend share a dark secret, and then find their lives turned upside down 15 years later when a man's body is found in the dunes. Lots of promise but the story sort of fizzles out and the ending is an anticlimax. Still an OK read, as Wycliffe always is.
½
 
Signalé
drmaf | 3 autres critiques | Jun 21, 2019 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
40
Aussi par
3
Membres
1,866
Popularité
#13,792
Évaluation
½ 3.4
Critiques
49
ISBN
266
Langues
5
Favoris
2

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