The Massingham Affair Explained

The Massingham Affair is a 1962 crime detective novel by the British writer Edward Grierson.^[1] Grierson based on the story on a real-life case that took place in Edlingham. in the late nineteenth century.^[2]

Synopsis

Many years before an elderly vicar and his daughter were the victims of a violent robbery. Two local men were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime. Now, Justin Derry, working as a solicitor in the village decides to reopen the case and exonerate the accused, despite the hostility that ensues from the villagers.

TV adaptation

In 1964 it was made into a television series of the same title, broadcast on BBC Two. The cast included Lyndon Brook, Andrew Keir, Eileen Atkins and Renny Lister.^[3]

Bibliography

• Baskin, Ellen. Serials on British Television, 1950–1994. Scolar Press, 1996.
• Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.
• White, Terry. Justice Denoted: The Legal Thriller in American, British, and Continental Courtroom Literature. Praeger, 2003.

Notes and References

1. Reilly p.70
2. White p.172
3. Baskin p.69