STING OF THE HONEYBEE

by Frank Parrish ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1979

A second adventure for smallish, brown, West Country poacher-hero Dan Mallett--and an even more appealing one than Fire in the Barley (p. 479). There's some lighthearted thievery to start with--Dan, in dire need because of his old mum's medical problems, steals an ill-treated pony and a batch of antique clocks during one jaunty evening--but soon he's involved in downright life-an-death doings. An affable but actually insane bookmaker-tycoon, a poor boy from the area who made good in town, has returned to buy up his ancestral homestead; but the present owners, the elderly Hatfield sisters, don't want to sell. So the thug-equipped tycoon lays siege, cutting the sisters off from civilization, making increasingly violent threats. Who can save them? Wily Dan, of course, with the aid of a comely lady groom. Ambushes, crawls through the bushes, nighttime escapes and booby-traps--plus pails full of locally-colored charm, and even a moment or two of real feeling. Everything, in fact, for a flavorsome, rural-English, rough-edged entertainment. And, if future Malletts can add some mystery as well, Parrish could well become required reading.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION