3 Review(s)

For lovely Julia Harton, unhappily married to a brutally successful pet food executive, a dramatic death in the fairground seems to provide a deliciously easy means of escape. But for Inspector Purbright, it is the harbinger of a bizarre and increasingly nasty case. Mysteries abound, including the precise truth behind the initials RIP, the role of Happy Endings Inc, and, not least, the exact contents of certain tins of dog food. Flaxborough is a quiet market town in the east of England, discreetly prosperous, respectable, brimming with the provincial virtues. But beneath the bland surface, strange passions seethe. The little foibles of its citizens afford more than ample scope to the wisdom and pertinacity of Inspector Purbright. First published in 1977, "One Man's Meat" is the ninth novel in the "Flaxborough" series and displays Watson's characteristic dry wit and striking observation. "Sharp and stylish and wickedly funny". ("Literary Review"). "Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings". ("Sunday Times").