Ellis Peters. Never Pick up Hitchhikers (1976)

     Ellis Peters. Never Pick up Hitchhikers (1976) A very naive young man on the lam from his overbearing mother finds himself entangled in a plot that begins with a fire that is intended to create the impression that a bank robber has died. A girl he meets by chance has all the right instincts, which account for his escape from a gruesome grilling.

Lovely twists and turns of plot, competently managed multiple viewpoints, well-sketched characters, sly and not so sly comedy at the expense of crooks and young lovers, and a satisfying happy ending in which the mouse turns out to be a lion. The usual Peters romance is better integrated than in some of the Cadfael books, but her lovers here are just the same mix of fecklessness, shrewdness, and sweet purity of heart as in those stories. This is a pre-Cadfael story, but all the Peters hallmarks are evident. The humour has an edge that she later too often blunted. A very pleasant entertainment. *** (2004)