A Helping Hand: Celia Dale

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For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. For instance, we see them sizing up Mrs Fingal’s situation, working out how much the old lady might be worth and establishing whether there are any other living relatives besides Lena. An absolute shoo-in for my end-of-year highlights, I devoured this brilliant, terrifying novel in my eagerness to reach the end.

Soon after, they are on holiday in Italy, and encounter the disgruntled Lena Kemp and her aunt Cynthia Fingal. I found Sheep's Clothing a far better and more subtle novel and depiction of quiet crime but this novel delivers the groundwork. The novel’s first chapter is a masterclass in suburban unease, crammed with pension books and newspapers and tapestry footstools.Valancourt Books has recently published new editions of two of Celia Dale's novels, A Dark Corner and this book, A Helping Hand. Her writing is subtle, clear, beautiful at times, engrossing even when her characters repeat themselves.

Auntie Flo had lived with them for years until her death, leaving the Evans's her Estate, such as it was. During their break, Maisie and Josh attach themselves to another pair of British holidaymakers – the elderly widow Cynthia Fingal and her rather selfish niece, Lena. For those who think they’ve seen everything the crime genre has to offer, this is an example of how it can keep rewarding.

As the story gets underway, we find the Evanses on holiday in Italy, ostensibly as a bit of a break following the death of Auntie Flo, whom the couple had been looking after in their home before the old lady’s death. Poor Cynthia is first besotted, then befuddled by Josh but he’s a lecherous old creep with eyes only for young woman and his sordid scrapbook. So when Josh and Maisie bond with Mrs Fingal, over ice-cream and gentle toddles, it’s only natural that they all decide she should must move in with them once home.

For fans of Shirley Jackson, Roald Dahl and Muriel Spark, A Helping Hand is a sharp and nasty slice of darkness, and a reminder that the real horrors of this world can all too often be found behind discreet net curtains and the quietly nondescript. This retired couple have a very lucrative racketeer where they take care of old ladies while they steal her pension and finally their will. Josh and Maisie Evans are a seemingly unremarkable middle-aged couple on holiday in Italy, where they meet Mrs. Rich, dark and at times funny, this book is a real thriller in the vein of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith and Muriel Spark.Mrs Fingal, a wealthy widow, finds the couple a refreshing change to her resentful niece and their understanding and sympathy to her situation, her loneliness and need for companionship, makes them the perfect people to look after her. This book is definitely uncomfortable to read, especially when you consider things like this probably play out in real life all the time, but it works as an important reminder to be thoughtful of the most vulnerable people in our society. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that the material is credited and referenced to JacquiWine’s Journal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.