''That Yew Tree's Shade'' is a 1954

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

by the British writer

Cyril Hare Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark (4 September 1900 – 25 August 1958) was an English barrister, judgeHis Honour A. A. Gordon Clark (Obituaries) The Times Tuesday, 26 August 1958; pg. 10; Issue 54239; col E and crime writer under the pseudonym Cyr ...

. It was the fourth novel in his series featuring Francis Pettigrew, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and amateur detective. It also sees the return from his previous novel '' When the Wind Blows'' of the humourless police officer Trimble, now promoted to Superintendent. The novel's setting of a fictional beauty spot in southern England was inspired by Box Hill in the author's native

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. The title is taken from a line in

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

's ''

Elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

''. It was first published in London by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply 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, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

and released in the United States by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

under the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

''Death Walks the Woods''.Reilly p.730

Synopsis

England, 1952. Pettigrew and his wife have retired to a

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

she has inherited from an aunt in Yew Hill, a picturesque spot in the county of Markshire. The peace of the area is broken by the Easter

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

s who flock there and the murder of Mrs Pink, a kindly local woman who is battered to death on the hill. Potential suspects include a pig farmer, a

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

owner and Humphrey Rose, a notorious financial swindler and disgraced

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

recently released from prison.

References

Bibliography

*Murphy, Bruce F. ''The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery''. Springer, 1999. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Van Dover, J.K. ''The Detective and the Artist: Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s–1970s''. McFarland, 2019. 1954 British novels British mystery novels Novels set in England British crime novels British detective novels Faber & Faber books Little, Brown and Company books Novels by Cyril Hare {{1950s-novel-stub