The Nice and the Good - Hardcover

Murdoch, Iris. The Nice and the Good. London, Chatto & Windus, 1968. 13.5 cm x 20 cm. 350 pages. Original hardcover with original dustjacket in protective Mylar. Excellent condition with minor signs of external wear. Slightly tattered edges on dustjacket, and discoloured page-edges. Clean inside with solid binding. From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea, The Sea comes a story about revenge and reconciliation, and the difference between being nice and being good. John Ducane, a respected Whitehall civil servant, is asked to investigate the suicide of a colleague. As he pursues his inquiry, he uncovers a shabby, evil world of murder, blackmail, and black magic. He begins to feel more trapped than trapping. In contrast to a stagnant summer in London, Octavian and Kate Gray's adoring community on the Dorset coast seems to offer Ducane refuge, but even here the after-effects of violence poison an atmosphere already electric with adolescent quarrels and intrigue. After a swim into the underworld, Ducane begins to realize that niceness is not enough. (Amazon)