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The Hunter and the Trapped
College lecturer Simon Fawcett is seemingly witty, handsome, and irresistible to men and women alike; but underneath his charming and seductive demeanour is a cold and manipulative man with a terrible secret.
When Simon begins pursuing student Penny Dane - despite his ongoing, intense romance with a married woman - he is caught in a love triangle that threatens to expose both his romantic misdeeds and his dark past. The trap is set; and the only way out leads towards blackmail . . . and murder.
When Simon begins pursuing student Penny Dane - despite his ongoing, intense romance with a married woman - he is caught in a love triangle that threatens to expose both his romantic misdeeds and his dark past. The trap is set; and the only way out leads towards blackmail . . . and murder.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
14 people want to read
About the author
Josephine Bell
79 books17 followersJosephine Bell (the pseudonym of Doris Bell Collier Ball) was born into a medical family, the daughter of a surgeon, in Manchester in 1897.
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 6, 2017
University lecturer Simon Fawcett is an Adonis, attractive to both women and men alike. He has the habit of sponging the men for money as long as he can, then cruelly dumping them when they suggest a consummation; with the women he behaves similarly, only he seduces them first. His solitary long-term relationship is with Diana Allingham, wife of his old friend William Allingham. And now he has seduced one of his students, Penelope Dane, half his age and the daughter of another of his old friends, Hubert Dane. Just to complicate matters, the Allinghams' son John was almost affianced to Penelope . . .
We soon realize, as do most of the cast, that Simon is a clinical narcissist; the text later tells us that he's also a paranoid schizophrenic. But it takes both Diana and Penelope a painfully long time to realize this.
That's the first part of the novel, which is definitely a book of two parts. At the beginning of the second, Mrs. Morris, the cleaner for Simon and various other tenants of the block of flats where he lives, is found strangled. She was blackmailing several of the tenants, Simon included. Detective Inspector Mont and Sergeant Clay of the Yard step in to find the killer . . .
Of course, knowing what we know of Simon, it seems pretty certain that he must be the murderer. And yet Bell does a very skillful job of sustaining an uncertainty about this, even as the incriminating evidence against Simon stacks up higher and higher. At the same time, so do the crimes-by-omission of most of the other main cast members: to the great hindrance of Mont's investigation, they conceal evidence from him for fear of dragging Penny's name through the mud, or Diana's, or . . .
What we have here, then, is a quite ambitious domestic noir/psychological thriller. Its only trouble is that the execution is several rungs down the ladder from that ambition. Although I enjoyed reading the novel more than somewhat -- it was something I was in the mood for -- I couldn't persuade myself that it was actually any good. I was unconvinced by the occasional windows Bell offers us into Simon's unorthodox psychology, and for that matter by much of the rest of the characterization. I kept being reminded, too, of the way that novelists like Elisabeth Sanxay Holding and Dorothy Hughes tackled similar subjects and situations, and of how much better they did so.
I'm probably being far more negative than I should be. The Hunter and the Trapped moves at a cracking pace, and never once did I feel bored. Recommended with qualifications.
We soon realize, as do most of the cast, that Simon is a clinical narcissist; the text later tells us that he's also a paranoid schizophrenic. But it takes both Diana and Penelope a painfully long time to realize this.
That's the first part of the novel, which is definitely a book of two parts. At the beginning of the second, Mrs. Morris, the cleaner for Simon and various other tenants of the block of flats where he lives, is found strangled. She was blackmailing several of the tenants, Simon included. Detective Inspector Mont and Sergeant Clay of the Yard step in to find the killer . . .
Of course, knowing what we know of Simon, it seems pretty certain that he must be the murderer. And yet Bell does a very skillful job of sustaining an uncertainty about this, even as the incriminating evidence against Simon stacks up higher and higher. At the same time, so do the crimes-by-omission of most of the other main cast members: to the great hindrance of Mont's investigation, they conceal evidence from him for fear of dragging Penny's name through the mud, or Diana's, or . . .
What we have here, then, is a quite ambitious domestic noir/psychological thriller. Its only trouble is that the execution is several rungs down the ladder from that ambition. Although I enjoyed reading the novel more than somewhat -- it was something I was in the mood for -- I couldn't persuade myself that it was actually any good. I was unconvinced by the occasional windows Bell offers us into Simon's unorthodox psychology, and for that matter by much of the rest of the characterization. I kept being reminded, too, of the way that novelists like Elisabeth Sanxay Holding and Dorothy Hughes tackled similar subjects and situations, and of how much better they did so.
I'm probably being far more negative than I should be. The Hunter and the Trapped moves at a cracking pace, and never once did I feel bored. Recommended with qualifications.
May 22, 2013
Charismatic university lecturer Simon Fawcett seems to have an ambivalent relationship with the truth. He is having an affair with a married woman and various students have broken their hearts over him. Some people like him but others think he is shallow and evil.
Penelope Dane – a student – falls in love with him and finds herself drawn into a web of deceit. When Mrs Morris, Simon’s cleaning lady is found murdered the police investigation finds itself presented with a wall of silence.
This is a gripping story of evil and immorality in which too many people think appearances matter more than anything. But there are some characters who have not lost all sense of responsibility and gradually the truth comes out and it results in a tragic finale.
This is a well written and the tension is carefully built up. It’s fairly clear from the start who the murderer is but it doesn’t detract from the suspense. I found I wanted to know how it was all going to work out and how the various characters were going to resolve their tangled relationships.
Penelope Dane – a student – falls in love with him and finds herself drawn into a web of deceit. When Mrs Morris, Simon’s cleaning lady is found murdered the police investigation finds itself presented with a wall of silence.
This is a gripping story of evil and immorality in which too many people think appearances matter more than anything. But there are some characters who have not lost all sense of responsibility and gradually the truth comes out and it results in a tragic finale.
This is a well written and the tension is carefully built up. It’s fairly clear from the start who the murderer is but it doesn’t detract from the suspense. I found I wanted to know how it was all going to work out and how the various characters were going to resolve their tangled relationships.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews