Forgotten Book - Devil at Your Elbow

D.M. Devine's Devil at Your Elbow, originally published by Collins Crime Club in 1966, was his fifth novel. The setting is a redbrick university, and the authenticity of the background owes a great deal to the fact that Devine worked at the University of St Andrews as a senior administrator. Although Hardgate University in the novel appears to be located in the north of England, the use of the Scottish spelling of the term 'bedell' rather than 'beadle' hints at Devine's Scottish background. (In another of his English-set books, similarly, he uses terms like 'whin' rather than 'gorse' and 'dux' for top of the form. I imagine what he was trying to do was to make clear that he wasn't writing about people and places that he knew).  

The story begins with a chess match played between two members of staff, the unpopular Dr Haxton (who is rumoured to have embezzled funds from the summer school) and young Peter Bream, who lectures in maths. Peter's fiancee, the glamorous (but mysterious) Lucille Provan, is a prime mover in the attempt to remove Haxton from his post. Haxton wants Peter's help to find out about the case against him, but Peter is unwilling to get involved and Lucille tells him that the case against Haxton is strong.

We are quickly introduced to various other key figures at Hardgate, including the Bursar, Ivor Matthews, Professor Edgar Simmonds, Graham Loudon, the Dean of Law, and Errol Humphreys, the Registrar. Some of them clearly have an axe to grind against Haxton. We also meet Karen Westall, who was going out with Peter until she made the mistake of introducing him to Lucille. She is still living in the same cottage as Lucille and remains on friendly terms with Peter. As for Peter, he is charming but rather weak, and has spent much of his life in the shadow of his deceased father, who was a professor at the same university. Peter isn't of the same calibre, and he knows it.

An attack on Karen is a prelude to a tragedy. Haxton is found dead and the inquest returns a verdict of accidental death. But was it? Gradually it becomes clear that old sins cast long shadows. The notoriously picky Kirkus Reviews said that this book is 'as intricate and intelligent as its main cast of characters' and this judgement is spot on. The technical storytelling skill with which Devine diverts suspicion away from the guilty part is really impressive.