The Elberg Collection

Anthony Oliver published a few of the funniest mysteries ever written in the 1980s. Then, vanished back into an insane asylum. This is one of the great tragedies of British Literature. Oliver's characters are funny, real, insane, practical, devious, bold, affectionate, over-sexed, and just delightful. Sell me your copy! Bring him back to print. I was joking about the insane asylum--no one knows why there are so few Olivers about.

A couple vacationing in France go for a walk along the beach. Somehow they catch fire and burn to death. How did it happen? The police are satisfied it was a freak accident, but the couple's daughter doesn't believe it. She hired ex-CID detective John Webber to find out what really happened.After such a bizarre opening, it takes good, solid detection to find out the identity of the killer. I found the story and characers very interesting, but sometime the story moved a little slow. I skipped around during some of the descriptive parts. Although this story is old and out of print, if you do come across it, you may enjoy it. But it wasn't so great that I'd recommend scouring the used bookstores until you find it.