Play to the End
Encyclopedia
Play to the End is a crime novel
by Robert Goddard
first published in 2004
. It is set in Brighton
in December 2002 and revolves around a local entrepreneur whose wealth may be based on shady practices carried out by his family business
at some point in the past.
with a recently discovered play by Joe Orton
called Lodger in the Throat. When the company arrive in Brighton for a one-week run at the Theatre Royal
, Flood is confident that he will be able to use his stay to get in touch with his estranged wife Jenny, who has filed for divorce and is now living with Roger Colborn, a local businessman, on the outskirts of the city. Flood is surprised to find that it is Jenny who contacts him first: She tells him she is being stalked
and, as she believes that her husband is to blame for it, asks him to do something about it.
This is how Flood meets Derek Oswin, the alleged stalker, an eccentric man his own age who, just like his deceased father and grandfather before him, worked for the Colborns' family business until its liquidation
in 1989. It turns out Oswin has written a history of the company but so far has not found a publisher
. Talking to Oswin and to other people he meets, either by chance or by design, Flood more and more gets the impression that Roger Colborn is a dangerous man who has something to hide, and that Jenny must be saved from the clutches of the Colborn family before it is too late.
Thus, Flood's interest in the affairs of a now defunct company is fuelled by his desire to win back Jenny, so much so that his professional life is affected. Trying to dig up dirt on the Colborns, he is drawn into a quagmire of events he cannot make head or tail of and eventually misses an evening's performance without giving any notice. When, however, on the following day he finds his understudy
—the man who saved his neck the previous night—dead in the streets of Brighton he realizes the seriousness of the situation. In the course of one week homes are broken into, evidence is stolen, several people die, family secrets are uncovered, and an inheritance
is reclaimed. Justice triumphs in the end.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
by Robert Goddard
Robert Goddard (novelist)
Robert Francis Goddard is a British novelist.-Life and career:Goddard was educated at Wallisdean County Junior School and Price's Grammar School in Fareham before going on to study history at the University of Cambridge...
first published in 2004
2004 in literature
The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
. It is set in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in December 2002 and revolves around a local entrepreneur whose wealth may be based on shady practices carried out by his family business
Family business
A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
at some point in the past.
Plot summary
Middle-aged actor Toby Flood is touring the South of EnglandSouthern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
with a recently discovered play by Joe Orton
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
called Lodger in the Throat. When the company arrive in Brighton for a one-week run at the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal, Brighton
The Theatre Royal, Brighton is a theatre in Brighton, England, United Kingdom presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays, along with performances of opera and ballet and a Christmas pantomime.-History:...
, Flood is confident that he will be able to use his stay to get in touch with his estranged wife Jenny, who has filed for divorce and is now living with Roger Colborn, a local businessman, on the outskirts of the city. Flood is surprised to find that it is Jenny who contacts him first: She tells him she is being stalked
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
and, as she believes that her husband is to blame for it, asks him to do something about it.
This is how Flood meets Derek Oswin, the alleged stalker, an eccentric man his own age who, just like his deceased father and grandfather before him, worked for the Colborns' family business until its liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
in 1989. It turns out Oswin has written a history of the company but so far has not found a publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. Talking to Oswin and to other people he meets, either by chance or by design, Flood more and more gets the impression that Roger Colborn is a dangerous man who has something to hide, and that Jenny must be saved from the clutches of the Colborn family before it is too late.
Thus, Flood's interest in the affairs of a now defunct company is fuelled by his desire to win back Jenny, so much so that his professional life is affected. Trying to dig up dirt on the Colborns, he is drawn into a quagmire of events he cannot make head or tail of and eventually misses an evening's performance without giving any notice. When, however, on the following day he finds his understudy
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
—the man who saved his neck the previous night—dead in the streets of Brighton he realizes the seriousness of the situation. In the course of one week homes are broken into, evidence is stolen, several people die, family secrets are uncovered, and an inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
is reclaimed. Justice triumphs in the end.
Read on
- For other novels set in Brighton, see Brighton in fictionBrighton in fictionThe British city of Brighton has featured in the following works of fiction:*Jane AustenThe British city of Brighton has featured in the following works of fiction:*Jane AustenThe British city of Brighton has featured in the following works of fiction:...
. - Edmund CrispinEdmund CrispinEdmund Crispin was the pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery , an English crime writer and composer.-Life and work:Montgomery was born in Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire...
's The Case of the Gilded FlyThe Case of the Gilded FlyThe Case of the Gilded Fly is a detective novel by Edmund Crispin first published in 1944. Crispin's debut novel, it contains the first appearance of eccentric amateur sleuth Gervase Fen, who is Professor of English Language and Literature in the University of Oxford...
and Simon BrettSimon BrettSimon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
's Charles Paris mysteries are other crime novels set in the world of theatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. - Margery AllinghamMargery AllinghamMargery Louise Allingham was an English crime writer, best remembered for her detective stories featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion.- Childhood and schooling :...
's Flowers for the JudgeFlowers for the JudgeFlowers for the Judge is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in February 1936, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
is also about a family business and an honourable clan's long-kept secrets. - In many novels by Eric AmblerEric AmblerEric Clifford Ambler OBE was an influential British author of spy novels who introduced a new realism to the genre. Ambler also used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.-Life:...
, the innocent protagonist finds himself drawn into an unfamiliar world and then all at once threatened from all sides by dangerous criminals without realizing at first why he has become their target in the first place. - In Ivy Compton-BurnettIvy Compton-BurnettDame Ivy Compton-Burnett, DBE was an English novelist, published as I. Compton-Burnett. She was awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for her novel Mother and Son.-Life:...
's novel A Heritage and Its HistoryA Heritage and Its HistoryA Heritage and Its History is a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett first published in 1959 by Victor Gollancz.-Plot summary:69-year-old Sir Edwin Challoner lives with his extended family in a grand old house in rural Southern England. Unmarried, he has no direct issue, and the person closest to him is...
a similar legal problem concerning an inheritance is an important plot element.