''The Sad Variety'' is a 1964

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Su ...

written by the Anglo-Irish writer

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

, written under the pen name of Nicholas Blake.Stanford p.284 It is the fifteenth and penultimate entry into the series featuring the

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Nigel Strangeways Nigel Strangeways is a fictional British private detective created by Cecil Day-Lewis, writing under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. He was one of the prominent detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, appearing in sixteen novels betwee ...

. It marked a move away from the

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

s of the earlier novels into the then-fashionable

spy novel Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligenc ...

genre.

Synopsis

Strangeways is called in by the Security Service to protect a professor, whose recent discovery makes him a target for

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

intelligence, and his daughter. The action takes place in a country hotel in wintery

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

References

Bibliography

* Stanford, Peter. ''C Day-Lewis: A Life''. A&C Black, 2007. 1964 British novels Novels by Cecil Day-Lewis British thriller novels British spy novels British detective novels Novels set in Dorset Novels set in London Collins Crime Club books {{1960s-novel-stub