Forgotten Book - Bennett

My Forgotten Book fortoday was published in 1977. Desmond Cory (a pseudonym) was a prolific writerof thrillers who occasionally dabbled in psychological suspense. Bennett washis last foray into that field, and I suspect that it was not a particularlysuccessful book. It is, however, by any standards a pretty extraordinary pieceof work.
Part of the book takesthe form of a journal, ostensibly written by a detective novelist calledWilliam Bennett.  He has gone missing inSpain, and a young cop called Hunter has come out to try and find him, inconnection with the death of an au pair girl back in Britain.
The case has someechoes of the Lord Lucan case, but Cory's concern is not to offer a "solution"to that famous mystery, but rather to indulge in an intellectual game with thereader. Are there two journals, are there two men claiming to be Bennett? Anddoes Hunter have a close personal connection with the man he is... hunting?
I first read this booknot long after it came out. I was disappointed by its anti-climactic nature,and I suspect most other readers shared my frustration. At least one reviewerdescribed the book as boring. But on re-readng it, I had more sympathy with Cory'sattempt to do something very different with the crime novel. It's certainly intelligent, original and unrepeatable. Andthere are some fascinating allusions to classic detective fiction – such as TheWraith, an  obscure book by PhilipMacdonald – which are not fully developed, but which somehow give the book abit more depth. Bennett may be a failure, but it's an intriguing failure and iswell worth inspection – as long as you don't expect the orthodox.