This Blessed Plot

This Blessed Plot (1992) By M.R.D. Meek ? Worldwide Library ISBN: 0373260938, Condition: Used, as sold by Crappy Old Books This is the book you pick up when you want murder, manners, and property boundaries all tangled up together?because nothing brings out the worst in people quite like a nice piece of land and a long-held grudge. In This Blessed Plot , M.R.D. Meek delivers exactly what the title promises: a plot, several plots, and the occasional corpse planted in thoroughly inconvenient metaphorical (or possibly literal) soil. Expect that particular British crime blend where the countryside is charming, the people are polite, and someone is absolutely lying through their carefully maintained teeth. This particular copy, proudly circulated by Crappy Old Books , arrives in beautifully Used condition, which in this case means: A softly creased spine , proof that at least one previous reader barrelled happily through the chapters looking for suspects, motives, and confirmation that their least favourite character was indeed up to no good. Lightly worn corners , like a detective?s notebook that?s been in and out of coat pockets more than is strictly healthy. Delicately tanned pages , giving the whole thing a warm, ?cosy village with underlying menace? aesthetic. Inside, you?re likely to find: Some flavour of quietly lethal dispute ?land, inheritance, development, money, or all of the above?that everyone pretends is perfectly civil until it very much isn?t. A cast of local types : the respectable, the resentful, the nosy, the evasive, and the one who knows far more than they should but says far less than they could. A sleuth (official or otherwise) working through layers of gossip, half-truths, and social niceties sharp enough to cut. Meek?s world is one where: The scenery is lovely, but the conversations are armed. Tea is poured, alibis are constructed, and nobody ever quite says what they mean. ?This blessed plot? may refer to land, to England, to the murder scene, or to the entire mess everyone?s managed to get themselves into. Your Crappy Old Books edition may also carry: A mysterious dog-ear or two where the tension spikes, or the killer is heavily hinted at for the first time. The faint shadow of an old price sticker, like archaeological evidence of a past life on some other second-hand shelf. That deeply comforting old-book scent: part dust, part paper, part ?someone else was suspicious of these people before you.? You?ll enjoy this slightly battle-worn paperback if: You think crime is best served in a quiet setting with simmering tempers and hedges that definitely conceal things. You prefer murder mysteries where the most dangerous weapon might be a sharp remark, right up until it isn?t. You firmly believe that nothing screams ?trouble? like the phrase ?it?s only a small boundary issue.? Because it?s sold by Crappy Old Books , you also get: Full access to all the secrets, feuds, and revelations at a fraction of the original drama budget. A book that feels like it has already been read once during a rainy weekend in a draughty house?the ideal conditions, frankly, for any good murder mystery. The moral satisfaction of knowing you?ve preserved both literature and fictional crime in one efficient purchase. Take This Blessed Plot home. Settle in somewhere comfortable, preferably with a hot drink and a view of a garden that is hopefully not concealing any evidence. Because if there?s anything more enjoyable than watching a fictional community tie itself in knots over land and lies, it?s doing so via a well-travelled, gently worn paperback from Crappy Old Books that has already survived one round of suspicion.…