“Black land, white land, always at strife.” So goes the old saying in Durshire, where the people who once owned the black land were pushed off it ages ago to the white land, the barren chalk hills above the fertile alluvial plains. And history seems to be repeating itself as rich newcomers still continue to usurp the black-land holdings of impoverished landowners. Reginald Fortune, who’s summoned to Durshire by his eccentric friend General Duddon, is thrust into this age-old conflict when the general’s discovery of ancient giant’s bones turns out to include the rather recent bones of a boy who disappeared some ten years ago. Reggie stubbornly searches for the lad’s murderer, undeterred by bitter family feuds and the uncooperative and incompetent Superintendent Bubb, who takes over the case when his chief constable meets with an unfortunate accident. Reggie very nearly meets with one himself when he’s left for dead in a chalk pit, but with a little help from his friend Lomas at Scotland Yard, he lives to see justice done and young love triumph. A self-described country doctor with no imagination, Reggie solves his cases by sheer determination and highly developed powers of observation. First published in 1937, this is his second novel-length case.                          

Order This Book