Criminal Damage

Mrs. Newton, a widow, enjoys a quiet and determinedly tidy life in the picturesque English village of Middle Bardolph, but storms are brewing that seem likely to unsettle it. Geoffrey, her boring and not very pleasant son, thinks his mother should underwrite the larger home his ambitious wife demands. Temperamental daughter Jennifer is increasingly obsessed with her former lover and his new fiancee and seems bent on disrupting their lives: puncturing tires, breaking a window--and plotting worse. Meanwhile Neil Smith, a carpenter working on the house next door (who once served time for robbing and injuring an elderly lady) seems curiously determined to strike up an acquaintance with Mrs. Newton. Yorke ( A Small Deceit ) mixes this deftly drawn, untrustworthy cast with robbery, violence and a hidden past, keeping readers guessing about what will be done and who will do it. The ending, while a trifle too upbeat and neat, would perfectly suit the fastidious Mrs. Newton. (Jan . )