After the coldest night of the year, they find the man’s body. He is dangling from the Hanging Tree on the outskirts of a village near Lydmouth, with his trousers round his ankles. Is it suicide, murder, or accidental death resulting from some bizarre sexual practice?
Journalist Jill Francis and Detective Inspector Thornhill become involved in the case in separate ways. Jill is also drawn unwillingly into the affairs of the small public school where the dead man taught. Meanwhile a Peeping Tom is preying upon Lydmouth; Jill has just moved into her own house and is afraid she is being watched. And there are more distractions, on a personal level, for policeman and reporter . . .
My Review
Boarding schools provide a perfect platform for a murder mystery; so many jealousies and frustrated ambitions amongst the staff while a façade of order and obedience conceals past misdeeds. Inspector Richard Thornhill is frustrated by his inability to solve the case of the hanging man who had died before he was put on the tree in thick snow. Once again, he must interact with Jill Francis, the journalist he can’t stop thinking about, while his wife, Edith, seems to be especially kind and caring.
Lydmouth perfectly shows the atmosphere of a small English town during a very cold winter in the early 1950s. The Bull Hotel is the place to find the movers and shakers of the community and everyone knows everyone else’s business. Some of the policemen are more efficient and well organised than others and a great many people smoke at any opportunity. The atmosphere of the time seems authentic and the plot unfolds effectively. As a reader I want Jill and Richard to admit they care for each other but what about Richard’s wife Edith and his two children?
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Lizanne lost in a good book 
Thank you for sharing. I love a good mystery
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