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W. J. Burley (1914–2002)

Autor(a) de Wycliffe and the Scapegoat

40+ Works 1,864 Membros 49 Críticas 2 Favorited

About the Author

Séries

Obras por W. J. Burley

Wycliffe and the Scapegoat (1978) 103 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Pea-Green Boat (1975) 98 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Tangled Web (1988) 96 exemplares
Wycliffe in Paul's Court (1980) 95 exemplares
Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat (1970) 85 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin (1986) 85 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Winsor Blue (1987) 83 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Guild of Nine (2000) 82 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Three-Toed Pussy (1968) 81 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Four Jacks (1985) 80 exemplares
Wycliffe's Wild Goose Chase (1982) 77 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Beales (1983) 75 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Cycle of Death (1988) 75 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Dead Flautist (1991) 72 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Last Rites (1992) 67 exemplares
Wycliffe and the House of Fear (1995) 67 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Redhead (1997) 65 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Dunes Mystery (1993) 63 exemplares
Wycliffe and the Schoolgirls (1976) 59 exemplares
Death in Willow Pattern (1970) 34 exemplares
Charles and Elizabeth (1979) 17 exemplares
The House of Care (1981) 12 exemplares
The Wycliffe Novels (Omnibus) (2011) — Autor — 10 exemplares
A Taste of Power (1966) 7 exemplares
The Schoolmaster (1977) 7 exemplares
Senza sapere perche' (1974) 1 exemplar
Wycliffe 1 exemplar

Associated Works

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome canónico
Burley, W. J.
Nome legal
Burley, William John
Data de nascimento
1914-08-01
Data de falecimento
2002-11-15
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
UK
Local de nascimento
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK
Locais de residência
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK
Okehampton, Devon, England, UK
Crewkerne, Somerset, England, UK
Camborne, Cornwall, England, UK
Educação
University of Oxford (Balliol College)
Ocupações
teacher(biology)
business executive
crime novelist
author
Organizações
Home Guard (WWII)
Institution of British Engineers
Truro Gas Company (technical assistant ∙ assistant manger)
Okehampton Gas Company (manager)
Crime Writers' Association

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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.

Membros

Críticas

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.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
kitsune_reader | 1 outra crítica | Nov 23, 2023 |
 
Assinalado
ritaer | 1 outra crítica | 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.
 
Assinalado
mick745 | 4 outras críticas | 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
 
Assinalado
drmaf | 3 outras críticas | Jun 21, 2019 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
40
Also by
3
Membros
1,864
Popularidade
#13,807
Avaliação
½ 3.4
Críticas
49
ISBN
266
Línguas
5
Marcado como favorito
2

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