Anthony Oliver (1922-1995) was born in Wales. He served in the RAF during World War II and made his acting debut in 1964 at the Q Theatre. He appeared in film, on stage, and on television. He became an expert in Staffordshire pottery, writing two books on the subject still considered authoritative and establishing an antiques shop in Kensington Church Street in London with one of the largest collections of Staffordshire pieces in the world. He wrote some of his own acting scripts; contributed articles to such periodicals as Country Life, Art and Antiques Weekly, and The Antique Collector and Collectors Guide; and he wrote four mysteries about Wales native Lizzie Thomas and retired police inspector John Webber. See https://theatricalia.com/person/t7j/anthony-oliver and the dust jacket on Staffordshire Pottery: The Tribal Art of England (Heinemann, 1981).
Oliver wrote about what he knew in his first mystery, which is about a rare piece of Staffordshire pottery called the Pew Group, produced only during the 1740s. See Wikipedia for details and illustrations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_group
The Pew Group (Heineman, 1980; Doubleday Crime Club, 1981) is set in a small town in southeast England, where antique store owner Rupert Corder dies suddenly, leaving his wife Doreen ill-prepared to run the store. A couple of days later, an itinerant tinker offers her a few pieces he’s just purchased from the church fete, including an unprepossessing piece of white pottery. Doreen does a bit of research and learns it’s quite valuable; she hides it until she can decide how best to market it.
Her overwhelming mother Lizzie Thomas descends upon her, determined to take over her daughter’s life, which Doreen resents. The first thing Lizzie does is give most of the village food poisoning with the buffet she prepared.
After the funeral Doreen discovered the figurine was missing. Clearly someone took advantage of the crowd during the reception to quietly loot the store. Police inspector John Webber, visiting while on medical leave, hears about the loss. Webber set about a unobtrusive search, which Lizzie assisted by canvassing the most promising sources of town gossip.
From this point forward the mystery recedes into the background while the antics of the village hold sway. This is an entertaining read with more than one surprise in the final chapters and an agreeable resolution but it’s not a strong piece of crime fiction.
T. J. Binyon said in his “Criminal Proceedings” column in the Times Literary Supplement on Friday, April 18, 1980: “Adventures of a Staffordshire pottery Pew Group—one of only 20 in existence—from its appearance on a Bring-and-Buy stall in an East Anglian village to its apotheosis in a London saleroom. Pleasant, if at times overly facetious romp, with crime coming a bad third to eccentric characters and country atmosphere.”
Newgate Callendar said in the “Crime” column in The New York Times, April 26, 1981: ”The Pew Group,” set in a small British town, is Mr. Oliver’s first novel. The widow of an antiques dealer (she had helped in his demise) comes into possession of an immensely valuable piece of pottery, which is then stolen. A veteran cop on sick leave gets involved in the case, and the tension builds until the reader expects an explosion. Nothing much ever happens. Mr. Oliver writes well and has created some interesting and convincing types, but he is more interested in people than in crime. In the end, ”The Pew Group” is a civilized, even absorbing, piece of work.”