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Bobby Owen Mysteries #32
Brought to Light
The stage was set, Bobby thought, the actors in position; but how the drama would develop, that he could not even guess.
The churchyard at Hillings-under-Moor is the final resting place of Janet Merton – buried, so everyone believes, along with celebrated poet Stephen Asprey’s unpublished verses and love letters. The potential value of the poems has posed a constant danger of grave-robbing, but the Duke of Blegborough has a new cause for alarm. He has heard that there is an official move to open the grave, and its contents may shed a most unwelcome light on his dead wife.
Bobby Owen of the Yard also discovers the former rector of the church, Rev. Thorne, had gone for an evening stroll two years earlier – and disappeared into thin air. Whether his disappearance was in connection with the contents of Janet Merton’s grave is something Bobby will come to find out, with the help of Edward Pyle, of the Morning Daily, Janet Merton’s formidable niece Christabel, John Hagen (church sexton and self-taught classical scholar) and a man named Item Sims.
Brought to Light is the thirty-second novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1954. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers
The churchyard at Hillings-under-Moor is the final resting place of Janet Merton – buried, so everyone believes, along with celebrated poet Stephen Asprey’s unpublished verses and love letters. The potential value of the poems has posed a constant danger of grave-robbing, but the Duke of Blegborough has a new cause for alarm. He has heard that there is an official move to open the grave, and its contents may shed a most unwelcome light on his dead wife.
Bobby Owen of the Yard also discovers the former rector of the church, Rev. Thorne, had gone for an evening stroll two years earlier – and disappeared into thin air. Whether his disappearance was in connection with the contents of Janet Merton’s grave is something Bobby will come to find out, with the help of Edward Pyle, of the Morning Daily, Janet Merton’s formidable niece Christabel, John Hagen (church sexton and self-taught classical scholar) and a man named Item Sims.
Brought to Light is the thirty-second novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1954. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers
- GenresMystery
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1954
8 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
E.R. Punshon
73 books16 followersAka Robertson Halket.
E.R. Punshon (Ernest Robertson Punshon) (1872-1956) was an English novelist and literary critic of the early 20th century. He also wrote under the pseudonym Robertson Halket. Primarily writing on crime and deduction, he enjoyed some literary success in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, he is remembered, in the main, as the creator of Police Constable Bobby Owen, the protagonist of many of Punshon's novels. He reviewed many of Agatha Christie's novels for The Guardian on their first publication.
E.R. Punshon (Ernest Robertson Punshon) (1872-1956) was an English novelist and literary critic of the early 20th century. He also wrote under the pseudonym Robertson Halket. Primarily writing on crime and deduction, he enjoyed some literary success in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, he is remembered, in the main, as the creator of Police Constable Bobby Owen, the protagonist of many of Punshon's novels. He reviewed many of Agatha Christie's novels for The Guardian on their first publication.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 15, 2018
Another very interesting, entertaining and thought-provoking late Punshon.
Set mainly in and around the remote village of Hillings, with occasional forays to London and Blegborough Castle, this 1954 Bobby Owen sees the author, at the age of eighty-two, in fine fettle.
Bobby, now Deputy Commander C.I.D., becomes involved, at the request of the local Chief Constable, in a case which includes disappearance and murder and a literary mystery.
There are plenty of fascinating and unusual characters - a diffident Duke, a bumptious newspaper proprietor, the eccentric widow of a poet, a metaphysical sexton, and a crook named “Item”- populating the pages of this intriguing novel of classic detection.
Very readable and highly- recommended.
Set mainly in and around the remote village of Hillings, with occasional forays to London and Blegborough Castle, this 1954 Bobby Owen sees the author, at the age of eighty-two, in fine fettle.
Bobby, now Deputy Commander C.I.D., becomes involved, at the request of the local Chief Constable, in a case which includes disappearance and murder and a literary mystery.
There are plenty of fascinating and unusual characters - a diffident Duke, a bumptious newspaper proprietor, the eccentric widow of a poet, a metaphysical sexton, and a crook named “Item”- populating the pages of this intriguing novel of classic detection.
Very readable and highly- recommended.
April 25, 2020
Four and a half stars.
A really ingenious plot with Bobby Owen at his best. I really enjoyed this one. Brilliantly drawn characters, especially Edward Pyle, a bullying, bombastic, newspaper magnate and the murder victim. Also The Duke of Blegborough, a woolly, absent minded peer plus loads of others. As always, Punshon allowed the reader to share most of Bobby's thoughts and suspicions.
Well into his eighties when he wrote this, Punshon had lost none of writing ability and the prose was as sharp and witty as ever. This is number 32 of 35. Only 3 more to go and I will have read them all in chronological order which has allowed me to follow Bobby's career from walking the beat as a constable to his present rank of Commander. Bobby Owen, to my mind, is one of the most likeable professional policemen in detective fiction.
A nice little short story tacked on as well.
Superb stuff. Highly recommended.
A really ingenious plot with Bobby Owen at his best. I really enjoyed this one. Brilliantly drawn characters, especially Edward Pyle, a bullying, bombastic, newspaper magnate and the murder victim. Also The Duke of Blegborough, a woolly, absent minded peer plus loads of others. As always, Punshon allowed the reader to share most of Bobby's thoughts and suspicions.
Well into his eighties when he wrote this, Punshon had lost none of writing ability and the prose was as sharp and witty as ever. This is number 32 of 35. Only 3 more to go and I will have read them all in chronological order which has allowed me to follow Bobby's career from walking the beat as a constable to his present rank of Commander. Bobby Owen, to my mind, is one of the most likeable professional policemen in detective fiction.
A nice little short story tacked on as well.
Superb stuff. Highly recommended.
September 10, 2025
This episode sees Bobby back in the countryside investigating a tangled mystery that involves a disappearance, a murder, London criminals, some letters buried in a grave, and possible blackmail. Punshon seems to have recaptured some of the dry wit that marked his earlier books, and he also has Bobby back riding his motorcycle across country to get at the truth. Olive doesn’t appear in this book, which is a shame, but Bobby’s intuition and determination serve him well as always.
September 14, 2024
Incomprehensible
The story made no sense at all. I’ve read all Punchon’s Bobby Jones stories up this one but doubt if I’ll bother with any more.
The story made no sense at all. I’ve read all Punchon’s Bobby Jones stories up this one but doubt if I’ll bother with any more.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews