Classic literary detectives are often dreadful know-it-alls. Hercule Poirot? Know-it-all. Sherlock Holmes? Definitely a know-it-all. It’s no surprise really, as their extreme levels of intelligence, which endow them with the required powers of observation to fulfil their roles, result in a propensity to be insufferable windbags. It’s hard to imagine sometimes how difficult it must be for their long-suffering assistants to put up with them. Ian Sansom has channelled this very problem in his novel The Norfolk Mystery, as Stephen Sefton, traumatised and shaken from his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, struggles to cope with the eccentricities of his new employer, Professor Swanton Morley.
