Grim Death and the Barrow Boys

An involuntary shout of boyish delight as Gideon escaped from Towser gave away the scene of his future activities to his overbearing partner. These two were not exactly criminals nor yet true wide-boys, but of both of them it could be said that you had to count your fingers after shaking hands. Towser was a cradle-coster-monger, and Gideon, assisting him at the old clothes barrow, buying and selling what is often described as 'drag', absorbed all the tricks of the trade he learned from Towser. Gideon was a truly deprived child; in early youth turned out of the room he shared with his unmarried mother in order that she might earn her living, he was also slightly crippled. Some have greatness thrust upon them but Gideon had merit, and lots of it, thrust upon him by kind people to whom his limp seemed pathetic. So when both the young men were implicated in murder most foul at the seaside Towser was obviously guilty and Gideon clearly innocent... or was he? Once again, Joan Fleming displays that talent for characterizing young people in highly original crime situations which has won such acclaim for her previous novels, *Hell's Belle* and *Young Man, I Think You're Dying*. The last-named won the Golden Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for 1970.