David Pinner was a stage actor and quite a successful one at that. He had the lead in a production of The Mouse Trap, the Agatha Christie play, in the West End of London and over as seven week period he wrote this book. There is a story that while transporting the only copy to his agent he accidently left it on the roof of his car and if it had not been for a kindly, and observant, other road user the only copy of the original manuscript could have been lost forever. I do not know if that is true but what a good story, the sort of story an imaginative agent might have come up with..
The parallels with the wicker Man are all surface. And also bubbling underneath, so to speak. The way the characters talk is all over the place. Their inner monologues and not so secret motivations erupt sickly yellow from between their ears and between their lips. People wear their appetites on their sleeves in this village and the children are a right bunch of little horrors.
A little girls body is found at the foot of an ancient tree which has Wiccan adornments, batwings and monkey heads(Sound like a song by The Gorillaz.). The Urban policeman on the trail believes there are supernatural elements to the death and throws himself into village life, mingling with the natives, getting down and dirty and disturbed.
This little town would give Summer Isle a run for its money. The residents are earthy,filled with secrets and driven by animal passions that lead them to dark places and the summer solstice is upon them with all its potency. This is a chilling glimpse into the underbelly of a beautiful little rustic idyll. Its as though a pretty picnic blanket was thrown over a tasty feast which was allowed to rot until the blanket twitched and shuddered at the fever of corruption beneath...
Also found this image of a cover illustration from the french edition which really conveys the spirit of this book. The dialogue can be quite arch, the characters all speak as though they are channeling the movie Performance.
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