JuULIAN SYMONS was a most celebrated practitioner of the crime novel and was also recognized as one of the great British experts on the genre. His history of the form, Bloody Murder, was called by Len Deighton "the classic study of crime in fiction." In 1976 Mr. Symons succeeded Agatha Christie as president of Britain's Detection Club, and in 1977 he was made a Grand Master of the Swedish Academy of Detection. In 1982 he was named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, an honor accorded to only three other English writers--Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and Daphne du Maurier. Mr. Symons has been equally successful as a critic, social and military historian, and biographer. Prior to his death in 1994, he lived in Kent, near the sea.

Set in Venice (Veneto)
England

Out of Print

A Criminal Comedy

UK Title:
The Criminal Comedy of the Contented Couple

JACKET NOTES: It starts with a nasty little scandal among the young prosperous citizens of Headfield, England. Someone is sending anonymous notes accusing Derek Cowley of having an affair with the wife of Charles Porson, his partner in a travel agency. When the partners make a business trip to Italy, events escalate to murder, and the investigation reveals everything from double-dealing in business to smuggling--but not was behind the murder. Derek's friend Jason has some suspicions, but it takes years before he discovers surprising truth.
(© Penguin Books)