The Schoolgirl Murder Case (1974), Colin Wilson’s twelfth novel, is the first in a projected series of a dozen police procedural novels, although only two were completed (Stanley (2006), 8). Wilson’s detective, Chief-Superintendent Gregory Saltfleet, bears some similarities to Jules Maigret, the famous sleuth created by Georges Simenon (1903-89), and to Inspector George Gently in the novels of Alan Hunter (1922-2005). In contrast to Wilson’s bohemian protagonists, such as Gerard Sorme in Ritual in the Dark (1960), Harry Preston in Adrift in Soho (1961) or Kit Butler in The Black Room (1971), Saltfleet is a salaried professional, like Samuel Kahn, the psychiatrist in The Killer (1970), and he …
1032 words
Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Schoolgirl Murder Case". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23945, accessed 26 November 2024.]