If the mysteries of Robert Barnard are more a snack than a meal, they are savory, salty and a touch on the bitter side. In this one Barnard has created a British village rampant with small-minded hypocrites, petty and pompous. The great fun of the book is not in deft plotting (it's fairly ordinary) but in the take-no-prisoners descriptions of the shallowness and pretentions of small-town life in the 1970s. There is nothing sly about Barnard's ill regard for his villagers; he loathes all characters who are not police officers (and he's not overly kind about most of them either). Some of the references are dated (Enoch Powell is hardly as rich a punchline now as he was then), but there is sufficient wit and sarcasm that has traveled well.

Robert Barnard deserves to be more famous than he is. A Little Local Murder is a top-notch mystery, seething with interesting, pathetic, and ridiculous personages, each of whom in his own way believes that the world revolves around him! It is an English village mystery with plenty of discussion of village life in AND out of doors; one really gets the sense of 'being there'. Barnard is extremely witty but he takes his books seriously (which cannot be said for all writers, who think that the way to entertain is to make everything a joke.) It's a pleasure to read an author of such shining and perceptive intelligence.

Sarah Causely comes to be a governess at an English Country Home owned by famous pacifists in the late 1930's. First entranced by the family, Sarah gradually comes to see them less romantically as they deal with a series of malicious pranks by the local fascist organization. The pranks culminate in the death of one of the local boys and only the family has a motive for his death. Barnard's characterizations are unusually well done. Sarah matures as England moves towards war, but her disenchantment with the family is not due to her disagreement with their political views, but a growing understanding of the weakness of their characters. The plot is well done and the mystery keeps the reader guessing. The historical context is particularly fun. The pacifists cannot interest the local MP in the civil war in Spain, for example, because he is utterly fixated by the King's romance with That American (Mrs. Simpson.) Good characters, good story, good suspense. The following review describes another of Barnard's books, not Skeleton in the Grass.

"Don't kill her! Don't!" The young Simon wakes up screaming! The gentle couple who have taken Simon in are more than a little confused. In Robert Barnard's "Out of the Blackout," the author sets this finely-tuned and suspenseful novel during the blizt of London during the War. Children have been evacuated to the countryside for their own safety, more often than not to live for the duration of the war with complete strangers. Young Simon Thorn shows up in the village of Yeasdon, along with the other evacuated children. However, his name is on on list, his address doesn't exist, and few clues can be found in the few items he possesses. Many questions abound and Barnard, with his accustomed patience and logical thinking, sets out to solve this mystery. He does so in a touching, poignant manner, and he brings vividly to life all the aspects of these dark and dangerous days of the blitz. Barnard deserves his well-earned reputation. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

It's funny how sometimes when we try and tear down stereotypes and generalizations that exist about a certain group, we invaribly end up creating more generalizations. Such is the case with "Chips and Pop", a book that claims to "decode" the Nexus Generation. While spending the first part of the book telling us how the Nexus Generation are not a bunch of aimless slackers, as Douglas Coupland portrayed Generation X. Then, they go on to generalize what this generation is all about.

Let's face it. No one can claim to be able to pinpoint characteristics that each member of a certain group. So, why does everyone try to? While it does have its shortcomings, this book is an excellent source of information for those who may not understand the current crop of young adults. I know too well how many managers are stuck in a "We did it this way, so you will as well", not knowing that today's generation prefers a work/life balance. Just because we don't have kids to go home to doesn't mean that our social lives don't matter. Pick up this book if you need some help understanding today's generation. However, don't expect a one-size-fits-all solution. We're much too complex for that...

Perry is a London police detective who has, to his immenserelief, been disowned by his upper-class family. The Trethowans mightbest be described as cut-rate Sitwells or Mitfords: a poet, a painter (long deceased, and the only one with any real talent), a composer, a set-designer, and a Nazi sympathizer -- plus their various offspring, all living in a monstrosity of a country house. When Perry's father (the composer) is found dead on a torture device of his own design, our detective's immediate reaction is: "That is just how one of my family would die, and just how one of my family would murder... I'll be the laughing-stock of the CID for the rest of my life." However, the Scotland Yard brass decide that only a Trethowan can comprehend the mind of another Trethowan -- and so, despite his pleas, Perry is sent back to the bosom of his family to find the killer among them. Although there is very little violence or sex in this book, it's still not your typical warm fuzzy aristo-Anglophile romp either.

Table of Contents:
Ch. 1 The Age of Chaucer, Ch. 2 Sixteenth Century Poetry and Prose, Ch. 3 The Beginnings of Drama, Ch. 4 Shakespeare, Ch. 5 Stuart Drama, Ch. 6 Poetry - Donne to Milton, Ch. 7 The Restoration, Ch. 8 The Eighteenth Century, Ch. 9 The Rise of the Novel, Ch. 10 The Birth of Romanticism, Ch. 11 Romantics and Anti-Romantics, Ch. 12 The Early Victorian Novelists, Ch. 13 The Early Victorian Poets, Ch. 14 The Late Victorians, Ch. 15 The Birth of Modern Poetry, Ch. 16 The Birth of the Modern Novel, Ch. 17 Depression and War, Ch. 18 Twentieth-century Drama, Ch. 19 From the Fifties to the Nineties, Index

Now in its second edition, "A Short History of English Literature" is a very accessible piece that is perfect for those readers who did not major in literature, but want to get their feet wet. Robert Barnard does an excellent job of taking the reader on a walk through the history of literature giving helpful historical information along the way. He touches on biographical information, analyses of individual works, and helpful comparisons and contrasts between works of different authors. Also, when necessary, information about historical (i.e. cultural and political) context is given without falling into messy swamps of detail.

The reason I have given it four starts instead of five is that it lacks student friendly organization. In other words, helpful devices such as outlines, subheadings, chapter summaries, and lists of key points, are absent. The book is good, but more attention to organization would make it great.

Barnard's book is an easy-to-read introduction that can be read as you sit in your favorite armchair, sipping a cup of coffee. I have truly enjoyed it.

In this spoof of opera temperments, Barnard looks at the death of an obnoxious Aussie diva. _Death on the High C's_ may be more interesting to real opera buffs, but to me any mystery was watered down by the overdrawn characters and the rather obvious red herrings the author employs.

Robert Barnard once again mixes an intriguing mystery with gently satirical portrait of a budding Manchester opera company with its "prime donne", dictatorial director, even a ex-military stage-door keeper! Highly recommended for those who love (or hate) opera. Even the detective is knowledgeable on the subject. And Barnard works his plot in nicely with production of "Rigoletto" that the company is rehearsing.

The murder-mystery plot seems to be secondary to the emerging details about the various characters. In fact, the primary character is probably the rural Australian psyche itself, and the individuals are all variations on that theme. To what extent is the book a satire of Australian life? I don't know; I've never been there. Is the book funny? Yes, wickedly so!

I've thoroughly enjoyed past Barnard books, but this one left me flat. He's too skilled a writer not to have some effective passages, but the story and characters were underdeveloped. His social commentary regarding homeless kids is pointed, but I missed his dark, satiric humor. The mystery of the stabber is solved, but ironically, the resolution doesn't really contribute to any of the characters' development, leaving me curiously uninvolved with them. Only Midge stood out with any vividness. All this and a lack of psychological suspense makes this a readable but blah experience.