Fly in the Cobweb

Dan Mallett #6

by Frank Parrish

When Dan Mallett's mother requires a costly hip operation, the wily poacher sets out to separate a wealthy new neighbor, Harold Dartie, from his money and accidently stumbles on dangerous secrets from Dartie's past

Genres: Mystery

149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

This is a pseudonym of Roger Erskine Longrigg

Roger Longrigg was a British author of unusual versatility who wrote both novels and non-fiction, along with plays and screenplays for television, under both his own name and eight other pseudonyms.

Born in Edinburgh into a military family, he was at first schooled in the Middle East, but returned to England as a youth and later read history at Magdalen College, Oxford. His early career took him into advertising, but after the publication of two comic novels took up writing full time in 1959.

He completed fifty five books, many under his own name, but also Scottish historical fiction as Laura Black; thrillers as Ivor Drummond (for which his chief character, Lady Jennifer Norrington was named by HRF Keating in The Times as ‘The true heir of James Bond’); black comedies as Domini Taylor; Frank Parish (which titles feature the adventures of Dan Mallett, a poacher who lives on the edges of legality) - and famously Rosalind Erskine – a name with which he hoaxed all for several years, and who appeared to write a disguised biography of what life was like in a girls boarding school where the classmates ran a brothel for boys from a nearby school. Erskine’s ‘The Passion Flower Hotel' became a bestseller and was later filmed.

Roger Longrigg’s work in television included ‘Mother Love’, a BBC mini-series starring Diana Rigg and David McCallum, and episodes of ‘Crown Court’ and ‘Dial M for Murder’.

He died in 2000, aged 70 and was survived by his wife, the novelist Jane Chichester, and three daughters.

Reviews

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a fly or other prey becomes stuck in a spider’s web, it quickly generates a vibration that brings the spider scurrying to gobble the unfortunate victim up or to mummify said victim for future consumption. In Fly in the Cobweb, much to my surprise, it was the protagonist, ne’er do well Dan Mallet who plays the fly to a wealthy “gentleman’s” spider. When I read that this was the sixth in a series of suspense, I rather assumed that the protagonist would be some kind of detective. I never dreamed he would detect the source of the problem in frightened self-defense.

Dan Mallett may be the dodgiest protagonist this side of the late Donald Westlake’s hapless planner of heists, Dortmunder. At least, though, Dan has to improvise his way through the plan at a faster pace than Dortmunder’s careful planning that rarely survives contact with the heist. Unlike Dortmunder novels with their unique combination of risibility and plausibility, however, this Mallett novel requires some “heavy lifting” of disbelief.

I said that Mallett is a bit dodgy. He does a few odd jobs around the rural village where he lives, but it is mostly to keep his eye for opportunities as provided for his “night job,” pilfering goods and stashing them in the rabbit holes near his rustic cottage. Dan lives in a rustic cottage with his aging mother who desperately needs a hip surgery that the National Health Service won’t authorize. So, Dan is saving up the profits from fencing his ill-gotten gains to provide a private surgeon and hospital stay for his mother.

But everything goes wrong when Dan sees the murder of a night watchman and comes face-to-face with the murderer, thankful that he always planned for an escape contingency and fortunate to escape, temporarily, with his life. Naturally, should the murderer get him alone, that’s curtains for Mallett. But he catches a break with a special summer event in town where he could hide in plain sight. Of course, the delightful suspense comes with his attempt to keep the ruse(s) going. The conclusion is far-fetched, but “fetchingly funny” if you can allow for ridiculous plot points. I rather enjoyed Fly in the Cobweb. It was refreshingly different, if you’re willing to try it on for size.