Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 151, Nos. 1 & 2. Whole Nos. 916 & 917, January/February 2018

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In 2016, the Washington Post said of Barbara Cleverly’s latest Joe Sandilands novel: “There are so many aspects of Diana’s Altar to celebrate, chief among them Cleverly’s intelligent characters and an agreeably labyrinthine master narrative. Adding to the fun is Cleverly’s gift for generating spirited dialogue, peppered with period slang.” Qualities also evident in this story!

In should have put her on the bonfire in the orchard. I should have seized her by a leg and an arm and hurled her into the flames with the other rubbish. I should have watched as the last remaining scraps of her substance flew up into the night sky and were caught as sparks and smuts in the tangle of apple boughs.

But I didn’t believe in Evil then. I laughed at such a medieval idea. And self-knowledge tells me I could never have done the dirty deed anyway. Destroy something of antiquity and beauty? Me? Never! My training, my finer feelings would always push me to rescue, preserve, polish up, enjoy. I’d as soon have taken a hammer to a Ming vase.

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