The Wimbledon Trilogy consists of three books written by Nigel Williams set in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

and published by

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

: *''The Wimbledon Poisoner'' (1990, ) : Henry Farr, a struggling solicitor is desperate to get rid of his wife, Elinor and decides to poison her, following the example of Everett Maltby, the original Wimbledon Poisoner. He obtains a quantity of

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists W ...

from a chemist using a forged optician's order and bastes a roast chicken with it. Unfortunately his wife is not feeling hungry and neighbour Donald arrives unexpectedly as the meal is served and takes a large portion with tragic results. Soon his friends and neighbours are dying in great numbers as the poisoning continues to misfire, and at every turn Henry is dogged by Inspector Rush, a friend of Elinor's... *''They Came from SW19'' (1992, ) : 14 year-old

ufologist Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and f ...

Simon Britten's father has just died and his spiritualist mother attempts to contact him through the advocacy of The First Church of Christ the

Spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

, South Wimbledon of which she is a member. At the same time the regular

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

watch on Wimbledon Common also makes contact of a different kind. Simon is caught between the church and aliens and struggles to find the truth... *''East of Wimbledon'' (1993, ): Robert Williams passes himself off as a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

to get a job at the Wimbledon Independent Islamic Boys Day School. This pretence is soon under pressure as Robert knows very little about

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. He is also entrusted with the care of Hasan a blind pupil who is believed by the so-called 'twenty-fourthers' (cf. twelvers), a sect of the nizari

ismailis Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

, to be the twenty-fourth

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

(cf.

Twelfth Imam Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justic ...

), whose

occultation An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...

they eagerly await... They were collected together in a combined volume entitled ''The Wimbledon Trilogy'' in 1995 (). ''Scenes from a Poisoner's Life'' (1994, ), is a series of 12 linked stories, one for each month of the year concerning characters from the Wimbledon Trilogy.

Screen adaptation

'' The Wimbledon Poisoner'' was adapted for television in 1994 by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. Originally in two parts and directed by Robert Young it starred Robert Lindsay as Henry Farr, Alison Steadman as Elinor and Philip Jackson as Inspector Rush.

External links

Review of The Wimbledon Poisoner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimbledon Trilogy, The Novel series Literary trilogies Faber and Faber books

The Wimbledon Trilogy The Wimbledon Trilogy consists of three books written by Nigel Williams set in Wimbledon, London and published by Faber & Faber: *''The Wimbledon Poisoner'' (1990, ) : Henry Farr, a struggling solicitor is desperate to get rid of his wife, Elino ...