fire kills obnoxious Jack Rhelan but he was not real target

For me - though the mysteries are probably good - I read Robert Barnard mainly for the writing. ( )

The vile Phelan family visits a house for sale on a middle class street after they had a big win in the pools. The owners of the five other houses in the neighborhood want to keep the Phelans out of the area. Then a fire strikes the Phelan hosue and the neighbors are all suspects. An interesting mystery with some discussion of class in Britain. ( )