Burley Cross Postbox Theft by Nicola BarkerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a fun book for fans of British (and probably all other) small villages. Someone breaks into a mailbox and steals a pile of letters, which are later discovered in back of one of the shops in town. The Big Police Force can't get a handle on it, so the case is turned over to a more local officer in hopes of him getting to the bottom of it. The only evidence, as such, is the stack of letters that was stolen--that is the book.
Read carefully. As in small towns everywhere, everyone knows everyone else's business and talks about it endlessly, even in the mail. Each letter-writer has a specific voice and style as well as a specific ax to grind. Some of them are wonderful, kind-hearted (if delusional) people. Some are despicable in every way. I loved the "translation" letter (one of the letters was written in patois), and the one from the frazzled mom of several whose life is a total and complete disaster. And the one from the Little Old Lady to the biker in prison.
It almost becomes beside the point to know who pilfered. The ending will surprise you.
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