Wolf! Wolf!
Published on 17. May 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
158 pages
978-1-4472-2226-2 (ISBN)
Description
Two men meet to conclude a very private business transaction in the empty store room of an NHS hospital. A patient sees them as they leave and believes she recognises the face of a one-time notorious murderer. But the patient is Miss Amy Tupper, dutifully prowling the ward to exercise her newly repaired varicose veins, and Miss Tupper, a retired actress, is known for the power of her imagination and the relish with which she follows the press reporting of lurid crimes.
The store room from which the two men emerged is found, however, to be far from empty. In a cupboard is the strangled body of a young foreign nurse.
The police very quickly acquire a prime suspect. But Michael Beddoes, a consultant surgeon at the hospital, is convinced the young pharmacist taken into custody is incapable of murder, and begins asking his own questions.
At the same time a local councillor, Gerald Nubb, is feeling his way cautiously but unswervingly towards the exposure of extensive corruption involving the town council and the top heavy bureaucracy of the local Health Service.
And of course there's still Miss Tupper, whose idiosyncratic view of the case isn't taken seriously until it's almost too late.
Josephine Bell is brilliant at describing and exposing small town graft and the faceless machinations of hospital administration, and into this she has woven an excellent murder story.
The store room from which the two men emerged is found, however, to be far from empty. In a cupboard is the strangled body of a young foreign nurse.
The police very quickly acquire a prime suspect. But Michael Beddoes, a consultant surgeon at the hospital, is convinced the young pharmacist taken into custody is incapable of murder, and begins asking his own questions.
At the same time a local councillor, Gerald Nubb, is feeling his way cautiously but unswervingly towards the exposure of extensive corruption involving the town council and the top heavy bureaucracy of the local Health Service.
And of course there's still Miss Tupper, whose idiosyncratic view of the case isn't taken seriously until it's almost too late.
Josephine Bell is brilliant at describing and exposing small town graft and the faceless machinations of hospital administration, and into this she has woven an excellent murder story.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
254 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4472-2226-2 (9781447222262)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Josephine Bell was born Doris Bell Collier in Manchester, England. Between 1910 and 1916 she studied at Godolphin School, then trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. At the University College Hospital in London she was granted M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922, and a M.B. B.S. in 1924.
Bell was also a prolific author, writing forty-three novels and numerous uncollected short stories during a forty-five year period.
Many of her short stories appeared in the London Evening Standard. Using her pen name she wrote numerous detective novels beginning in 1936, and she was well-known for her medical mysteries. Her early books featured the fictional character Dr. David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. She helped found the Crime Writers' Association in 1953 and served as chair during 1959-60.
Bell was also a prolific author, writing forty-three novels and numerous uncollected short stories during a forty-five year period.
Many of her short stories appeared in the London Evening Standard. Using her pen name she wrote numerous detective novels beginning in 1936, and she was well-known for her medical mysteries. Her early books featured the fictional character Dr. David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. She helped found the Crime Writers' Association in 1953 and served as chair during 1959-60.