W. J. Burley

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William John Burley
Born(1914-08-01)1 August 1914
Crime novels featuring Charles Wycliffe

William John Burley (1 August 1914

crime writer, best known for his books featuring the detective Charles Wycliffe,[5] which became the basis of the popular television series Wycliffe, shown from 1994 to 1998.[6][7][8]

Burley was born in

Grammar School in 1955, he was well established as a writer by the time he retired, at the age of 60, in 1974. He died at his home in Holywell, Cornwall, on 15 November 2002.[11]

Works

Wycliffe

The villagers of Kergwyns are baffled by the bizarre shooting of an attractive local woman, the only thing stolen from the scene being her left shoe and stocking, exposing a deformity in her foot. As Wycliffe investigates, he becomes acquainted with the life of the deeply unhappy woman, who routinely manipulated the men around her. When it becomes apparent that she left clues regarding her murder embedded in crossword puzzles the detective wonders why, if she knew about her impending death, she did nothing about it. Is some powerful person carefully stagemanaging the progress of the case?

  • Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat (1970)[14]

An auburn-haired young woman turns up naked and

docks, her face savagely beaten after death. The discovery of a thousand pounds stashed underneath some clothing, and of expensive luggage indicating more class than her present surroundings, exacerbates the mystery of her murder, and Superintendent Wycliffe finds himself drawn to the investigation, interrupting his seaside
holiday so that he can make inquiries of his own.

Caroline Bryce causes a scandal in her home village of

Treen
when her dead body is dragged from the bottom of a local river. Baffled as to a possible motive for the killing of Ms Bryce, Wycliffe mulls several possibilities. Could it have been a lover's quarrel, a family feud, or perhaps even the explosion of long-held resentment of the woman?

  • Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place (1973)[16]

In a remote corner of the Isles of Scilly the body of a young woman has been found, her skull and facial bones smashed. The locals, scared and angry, turn against Vince Peters, a famous pop star who is a newcomer. Wycliffe is not convinced of his guilt and soon scratches away at the surface of the supposedly closeknit community, exposing an undercurrent of fear and hatred.

  • Wycliffe and Death in Stanley Street (1974)[17]

A prostitute has been found naked and

smugglers
and property speculators. It takes arson and another murder before he can wrap up this case.

Somebody has

death sentence
.

  • Wycliffe and the Schoolgirls (1976)[21]

Two very different women, a

youth hostel and a cruel practical joke
played on a lonely student.

Every

undertaker, Jonathan Riddle, is strapped inside the blazing Ferris wheel
and killed. Wycliffe's investigation proves almost as bizarre as the crime itself, with baffling new evidence and the eventual discovery of a solution stranger than anything he's ever encountered before.

The small community of Paul's Court is shattered by the violent deaths of Willy Goppel, a German maker of dolls' houses found hanging from a beam in his home, and Yvette, a fifteen-year-old with a wild reputation found strangled, half-naked and thrown over a churchyard hedge. With the help of a local detective Wycliffe uncovers a string of antagonisms weaving across Paul's Court.

  • Wycliffe's Wild Goose Chase (1982)[25][26]

While he is taking a leisurely Sunday stroll along an estuary Wycliffe stumbles across a service revolver with one recently fired chamber and becomes embroiled in a world of shady art robberies, crooked dealers, a suspicious suicide and the hunt for a missing yacht.

  • Wycliffe and the Beales (1983)[27]

The Beales, a reclusive family living in Ashill House on the edge of Dartmoor, consist of Simon, an old man entirely withdrawn from active life, Nicholas and Gertrude, perpetually hitting the bottle and playing war games, and the painter Edward, who takes long walks on the moor in search of artistic inspiration. The only one with any drive or ambition is Gertrude's husband Frank Vicary, and all his time is absorbed by running the family business. When a murder rocks their local community no one has any reason to suspect one of the Beales until Wycliffe arrives and finds his investigation leading him up the Beales' garden path.

  • Wycliffe and the Four Jacks (1985)[28][29]

The reclusive writer David Cleeve has been receiving mysterious warnings in the form of a single playing card, the Jack of Diamonds. When the card arrives torn in half a murder is committed the same evening. Holidaying in the area, Wycliffe uncovers a tale of double murder, arson attacks and other crimes reverberating down the years.

  • Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin (1986)[30][31]

With his wife away for Christmas, Wycliffe readily accepts an invitation to stay with a

Virgin Mary in a recent nativity play
. He soon discovers that the missing youth was unpopular in her local community, and even her parents seem indifferent about the whole affair. Nevertheless, the detective leads a mass search for her and is soon caught up in a major criminal investigation.

Henry Pym

  • A Taste of Power (1966)[2]
  • Death in Willow Pattern (1969)

Miscellaneous

  • The Schoolmaster (1977)
  • The Sixth Day (1978)
  • Charles and Elizabeth (1979)
  • The House of Care (1981)

References

  1. ^ "Tales of Cornish Sleuth Found Fame". Western Morning News (Plymouth). 26 November 2002.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0787660205
    .
  3. ^ "Wycliffe author's web of interest". BBC News. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Poldark Novels". Cornwall Calling. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  5. ^ Hooper', Brad; Bill Ott (15 April 1999). "A Hard-Boiled Gazetteer to the British Isles". Booklist. 95 (16): 1456.
  6. ^ Keating, H. R. F. (18 April 1998). "Agatha's Legacy Lives On". The Times.
  7. ^ Lawson, Mark (8 October 1997). "Inside Story: Making a Killing". The Guardian (London, England).
  8. ^ "I'd Love to be Wycliffe on TV Again". Western Morning News (Plymouth). 12 December 2002.
  9. ^ "Column 8". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 March 2009.
  10. ^ "History and Staff". Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Wycliffe Author Dies in Cornwall". BBC News. 25 November 2002. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  12. ^ Archived 4 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Jones, Roger (Winter 2000). "Journal: A Bookman's Year". The American Scholar. 69 (1): 133.
  14. ^ Archived 24 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Archived 24 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Simister, Beryl (20 May 2005). "Book Reviews". UK Newsquest Regional Press – This is Bedford.
  17. ^ Archived 29 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Potteries Found Highwayman Had Undying Appeal for the Masses". Western Morning News (Plymouth). 13 September 2003.
  19. ^ Popple, Jeff (19 October 1997). "Police Detectives on the Beat". The Canberra Times.
  20. ^ Archived 10 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  21. OCLC 16295855
    – via OCLC Worldcat.
  22. ^ Archived 29 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ "Invalid Site". Orionbooks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 April 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  24. ^ MacCurtain, Austin (12 March 1989). "Paperbacks; Books". The Sunday Times (London).
  25. ^ White, Jean M. (19 September 1982). "Book World; Mysteries". The Washington Post.
  26. ^ [1] [dead link]
  27. ^ "Buy Fiction, Non-Fiction Books, Novels, illustrated, ebooks, audiobooks, The Orion Publishing Group". Orionbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  28. ^ "Dock Briefs/ Reviews of some recent detective fiction". The Guardian (London). 24 January 1985.
  29. ^ Archived 27 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Mann, Richard (29 October 2001). "One Tedious Police Detective". Morning Star.
  31. ^ Archived 29 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ Coleman, John (27 November 1988). "Adventures in the Scam Trade; Crime fiction; Books". The Sunday Times.
  33. ^ Coady, Matthew (5 July 1990). "Books: Two-time winner – Crime". The Guardian (London).
  34. ^ Coady, Matthew (23 July 1992). "Books: The corpse in question – Crime". The Guardian (London, England).
  35. ^ Jackson, Suzanne (23 February 2008). "Book". Coventry Evening Telegraph (Nuneaton Edition).
  36. ^ Leon, Donna (10 May 1998). "Body of evidence – Crime – Books". The Sunday Times.

External links

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