Masterstroke

Simon Bognor #7

by Tim Heald

After a boozy Oxford reunion, Bognor is distressed to learn one of his classmates is a killerNothing depresses Simon Bognor like a university reunion. Every pimply-faced boy he knew two decades prior has made something of himself, while Bognor languishes at the Board of Trade, muddling along in an investigatory position for which he is hideously unqualified. Although more often than not his job requires catching murderers, he lacks even the observational powers to notice when the head of his old college has been poisoned. Both quite drunk, they totter off to their respective beds. Bognor makes it, but the master doesn’t—he collapses dead at the top of the stairs. Due to the dead man’s ties to the government, Bognor is asked to sort out who did him in. At long last he has the opportunity to prove himself at his old college—but Bognor knows it is just as likely that he will end up in the dunce’s cap.

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Tim Heald (b. 1944) is a journalist and author of mysteries. Born in Dorchester, England, he studied modern history at Oxford before becoming a reporter and columnist for the Sunday Times. He began writing novels in the early 1970s, starting with Unbecoming Habits (1973), which introduced Simon Bognor, a defiantly lazy investigator for the British Board of Trade. Heald followed Bognor through nine more novels, including Murder at Moose Jaw (1981) and Business Unusual (1989) before taking a two-decade break from the series, which returned in 2011 with Death in the Opening Chapter.

Reviews

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Bognor alleen op stap. Uiteraard volgen er dan amoureuze ontwikkelingen... vooral dan in zijn eigen fantasie. Deze anti-held wordt opgezadeld met een moordonderzoek waar hij liefst niets aan moet doen en vooral absoluut discreet over zijn.
Met zijn 2 linkerhanden en door de tegenwerking die hij krijgt en vooral via zijn sociale contacten blundert hij zich op zijn bekende humoristische wijze naar een oplossing die de nationale pers haalt en waar niemand echt tevreden mee is. Toch een soort van happe end waar vooral hijzelf buiten gehouden wordt. Gelukkig is er nog zijn trouwe Monica waar hij zich echt kan bij ontspannen en zich gelukkig voelen bij een heelijke hap en lekkere wijn.
Super aangenaam om lezen, persoonlijk stijgt mijn waardering, die al top, nog met elk Bognor-boek dat ik lees. Absolute aanrader voor intellectuele ontspanning en feelgood.

[Belinda Avdek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bognor is more confident than ever with his investigative skills and working with the police and other areas of MI6. He shows this in investigating his alma mater colleagues and their hidden occupations. Who wants to be the master the most?