The Golden Pebble is a thriller by the Scottish author Margot Bennett, published in 1948.

Plot

Mark Rector is an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

who specializes in

weevils Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, ...

. His sedate and dull life is unexpectedly disrupted when he travels to a remote village in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

from where his uncle once mysteriously received a piece of gold.

Reviews

The

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

included the book in their issue of 6 December 1947, writing ''Mrs Bennett's first non detective novel deals with a gold rush in Cornwall- and human nature in the raw''.https://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/pdf/tls/spokenword6december1947.pdf

Notes

* The book originally cost eight shillings and sixpence. * The book, like most of Bennett's other works, is no longer in print. * This was the last instance that Bennett's work was published by Nicholson & Watson. Most of her other works were published by

Eyre and Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it was incorporated as E ...

References

1948 British novels British thriller novels Novels set in Cornwall Novels by Margot Bennett {{1940s-thriller-novel-stub