title: A City of Strangers
author:  Robert Barnard 
description: In this droll study of Yorkshire town life in Thatcherite England, Barnard ( Bodies ) dishes up the suspense with Christie-like skill. Something is rotten in the Belfield Grove Estate--namely, Jack Phelan, a member of the "new underclass: riotous, savage, with nothing to lose." Phelan has sired six unwashed youths in order to get more beer money from the government's coffers. That his mostly illiterate offspring include a violent fascist and a child prostitute is fine with him. A trial to all its neighbors, the family is despised but tolerated--until Phelan wins at the races and announces his plans to share his presence with the middle class by moving to Wynton Lane. Not too unexpectedly, a murder disrupts his economic ascension--his own. With estimable craftmanship, Barnard has created a feisty melange of characters, none of whom appear brazen enough to commit a felony, making them all the more likely suspects. There's a mild-mannered academic; a fragile beauty who's spent many a year in bed snipping out photos of the royal family; and a supermarket manager and would-be yuppie. Sadly, the resolution of the murder is farfetched, yet almost forgivable considering the high quality of the rest of the work. Mystery Guild main selection. <br />Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # Table of Contents
  
  
  * [Title](City_of_Strangers_004_Title.html#ftit)
  
  
  * [Title Page](City_of_Strangers_005_TitlePage.html#ftp)
  
  
  * [Copyright Page](City_of_Strangers_006_CopyrightPage.html#fcp)
  
  
  * [Dedication](City_of_Strangers_008_Dedication.html#fde)
  
  
  * [Epigraph](City_of_Strangers_009_Epigraph.html#fep)
  
  
  * [Chapter 1](City_of_Strangers_010_chapter01.html#mbp_toc_0)
  
  
  * [Chapter 2](City_of_Strangers_011_chapter02.html#mbp_toc_1)
  
  
  * [Chapter 3](City_of_Strangers_012_chapter03.html#mbp_toc_2)
  
  
  * [Chapter 4](City_of_Strangers_013_chapter04.html#mbp_toc_3)
  
  
  * [Chapter 5](City_of_Strangers_014_chapter05.html#mbp_toc_4)
  
  
  * [Chapter 6](City_of_Strangers_015_chapter06.html#mbp_toc_5)
  
  
  * [Chapter 7](City_of_Strangers_016_chapter07.html#mbp_toc_6)
  
  
  * [Chapter 8](City_of_Strangers_017_chapter08.html#mbp_toc_7)
  
  
  * [Chapter 9](City_of_Strangers_018_chapter09.html#mbp_toc_8)
  
  
  * [Chapter 10](City_of_Strangers_019_chapter10.html#mbp_toc_9)
  
  
  * [Acknowledgments](Cit