The Ballad of Peckham Rye — Muriel Spark

A slender satirical gem from the “master of malice and mayhem” (The New York Times)
The Ballad of Peckham Rye is a wickedly farcical tale of an English factory town turned upside-down by a Scot who may or may not be in league with the Devil. Dougal Douglas is hired to do “human research” into the lives of the workers, Douglas stirs up mutiny and murder.