Dickinson, Peter

(British, 1927– )

Dickinson was for seventeen years assistant editor and a reviewer for Punch. His crime fiction is often set in claustrophobic and sometimes mysterious communities which he describes vividly. In The Yellow Room Conspiracy (1994) we meet the five aristocratic and rather dizzy Vereker sisters against the backdrop of the events of the 1950s. Their various lovers and husbands are an ill-assorted bunch ranging from a cabinet minister to businessmen and others on the fringes of violent crime. It all goes horribly wrong, of course. For Dickinson's children's fiction, begin with Healer (1986) in which Pinkie Proudfoot, a 10-year-old healer, is exploited by her father in the service of a cult he has formed. This too goes wrong but the positive ending has Pinkie helping the unhappy, 16-year-old narrator, Barry.

Nina Bawden, Michael Dibdin, Patricia Highsmith  IP