FRANK PARRISH – Sting of the Honeybee. Dodd Mead, US, hardcover, 1979. Perennial Library, US, paperback, 1983. First pubished in the UK by Constable, hardcover, 1978.

   Dan Mallet is a poacher by choice, not by necessity. He’s also a part-time burglar, but at this he’s still very much an amateur. A pony he pilfers and some stolen clocks eventually prove to be his undoing — major contributing factors in the huge predicament he soon finds he’s gotten himself into, in this, his second book-length adventure.

   There is no detection involved. A gangster who comes down to the West Country from London reveals his true colors very early on. To regain his boyhood farm from the two little and quarrelsome old ladies who now own it, the man is willing to go to any lengths, and only Dan knows the trouble they’re in.

   In truth he’s in no position to do much about it, but the suspense story that follows as he tries is an exciting one, retaining a great deal of the deep, raw flavor of the untamed English countryside. As always, it’s tremendously satisfying to read a mystery that’s both well-written and well-contrived.

— Reprinted from The MYSTERY FANcier, Vol. 4, No. 2, March-April 1980 (slightly revised).

      The Dan Mallet series —

Fire in the Barley, 1977.
Sting of the Honeybee, 1978.
Snare in the Dark, 1982.
Bait on the Hook, 1983.
Face at the Window, 1984.
Fly in the Cobweb, 1986.
Caught in the Birdlime, 1987.
Voices from the Dark, 1993.