"Bats in the Belfry" by E.C.R. Lorac

It begins with an after-funeral gathering at a home in Regent’s Park in London. Bruce Attleton, an author whose literary promise seems to have petered out after his first two novels, and his actress wife Sybilla are the hosts. The funeral was for Attleton’s Australian cousin, killed in an automobile accident. The guests include a stockbroker, some friends, Attleton’s ward, and a former journalist who’s keen to marry the ward. The discussion turns to theoretical murder, and how one might accomplish it and not get caught.

A few days later, Attleton leaves for Paris on business and his wife heads to parts unknown, perhaps for some plastic surgery. But it turns out that he never reached Paris; in fact, he never left England, and he has disappeared without a trace. Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is called in, and he soon discovers that no one knows Mrs. Attleton’s whereabouts, either. A mysterious stranger is implicated, and he’s traced to an old ruin of a place in Notting Hill. Then he disappears as well, Macdonald finds a body sealed up in the house (just like what was suggested at the gathering), and everyone involved appears to have a motive in wanting Attleton dead.

Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery was first published in 1937 by E.C.R. Lorac and has been republished in the British Library Crime Classics series. And a London mystery it is indeed, with the action occurring in Notting Hill, Mayfair, Fleet Street, Scotland Yard, and other parts of the city.

Lorac (1894-1958) is relatively unknown today, but she was one of the lights of the Golden Age of Mystery in Great Britain and a member of the Detection Club, which included such mystery writers as Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton (Chesterton was the first president). Her real name was Edith Caroline Rivett, and she was one prolific writer. She published some 49 mystery novels under the Lorac pen name (most of them Chief Inspector Macdonald mysteries) and 23 under the pen name of Carol Carnac.

The story is full of twists and turns. Macdonald slowly comes to understand that the solution to the mystery (and the deaths) lies buried deep in the past. Slowly he closes in on the suspect he knows to be the killer.

Bats in the Belfry is a notable addition to the Crime Classics series, with a solid introduction by mystery writer Martin Edwards. It will have you looking over your shoulder. 

Related:

My review of Fire in the Thatch by E.C. R. Lorac.

Top photograph: Fleet Street, London, in the 1930s, via The Londonist.

“Fire in the Thatch” by E.C.R. Lorac

It is late in World War II. Colonel St. Cyres and his daughter Anne live in Devon, and his son is in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma. His daughter-in-law June and the five-year-old grandson live with them; while she much prefers London and its nightlife, even in wartime, she can’t afford to live there. So, she spends much of her time sulking and complaining about there being nothing to do.

The colonel’s estate includes an empty cottage and a small amount of land. June tries to convince him to let one of her London friends, a flashy speculator-type, rent it. The colonel is suspicious, however, and rightfully so – the friend is scouting the area to acquire property for a gold course. Instead, he rents it to an invalided Royal Navy man, hurt during the war, who is both resourceful and well experienced at restoring the cottage and operating a small farm.

A few months later, the renter dies in a fire that destroys the cottage. The coronor’s jury returns a verdict of accidental death, with the fire likely caused by faulty wiring or a problem with the chimney. The victim’s former commanding officer, however, is dissatisfied with the verdict, and is able to get Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard involved in investigating what might have really happened. 

Fire in the Thatch by E.R.C. Lorac is the story of Macdonald’s investigation. First published in 1946, it has been republished in the British Library Crime Classics series and includes an informative introduction by mystery writer Martin Edwards. 

E.C.R. Lorac

Lorac (1894-1958) is relatively unknown today, but she was one of the lights of the Golden Age of Mystery in Great Britain and a member of the Detection Club, which included such mystery writers as Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton (Chesterton was the first president). Her real name was Edith Caroline Rivett, and she was one prolific writer. She published some 49 mystery novels under the Lorac pen name (most of them Chief Inspector Macdonald mysteries) and 23 under the pen name of Carol Carnac.

Fire in the Thatch tells a great story, with suspects abounding and little seeming to be as it appears. But Chief Inspector Macdonald is dogged and relentless, and he will eventually learn the truth and find the killer.

Top photograph by Richie Valens via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“Antidote to Venom” by Freeman Wills Crofts

George Surridge has a problem; actually, he has several. He’s the director of the Birmington Zoo, the most prestigious zoo in the U.K. outside London. It’s an enviable position. But his marriage is increasingly unhappy, he has a small gambling problem, and then he meets Nancy Weymore, a widow whom he finds extremely attractive. All of these things are straining his finances.

And then he has a bit of good fortune. An elderly aunt dies, leaving him her heir. The influx of funds will mean the end of his financial problems and his ability to buy a cottage for Nancy. He encounters only one problem: after starting the expenditures for the cottage, he learns that his aunt’s attorney has embezzled all of the anticipated funds. But the lawyer has a plan, and he convinces George to go along. Unfortunately, the plan involves murder of a most unusual kind – using the venom of a snake.

Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957) was first published in 1938 and has been republished as part of the British Library Crime Classics series. Crofts in his day was more popular than Agatha Christie; T.S. Eliot and Raymond Chandler were among his admiring readers, says mystery writer Martin Edwards in the introduction to the book, one of many Crofts wrote in the Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard series.

Freeman Wills Crofts

Most of the story is told from Surridge’s point-of-view. After a coroner’s jury returns a verdict of accidental death, Sturridge believes he and the lawyer have gotten away with the crime, the murder of the lawyer’s uncle using the venom of a viper. But criminal success brings no relief; Sturridge finds himself increasingly afflicted by guilt. The feelings increase as Inspector French, troubled by the verdict of accident, arrives to take the case apart. And he finds something very different has gone on. Edwards points out a fact about Crofts life that shows up in Antidote to Venom. Crofts was deeply religious, and it is religious faith that ultimately plays a critical role in the outcome. 

Antidote to Venom is not a classic “whodunit.” The reader knows what’s happened. Instead, it represents one of better examples of the psychological mystery that was beginning to become popular in Britain in the late 1930s. And it remains a fascinating story.

Related:

My review of The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts.

My review of The 12:30 from Croydonby Freeman Wills Crofts.

Top photograph: A scene from the London Zoo in the 1930s.

"The Sussex Downs Murder" by John Bude

John Rother and his brother William own a farm and lime-producing operation in rural Sussex, not far from the Channel coast and Brighton. John leaves one weekend for a short trip, leaving his brother and sister-in-law in charge. John’s car is found, with a smashed dashboard and blood on the seat and John’s bloody cap nearby. But there’s no trave of John or his body.

Superintendent Meredith is called to investigate the disappearance and likely death. From the beginning, it’s a frustrating investigation, with little to go on except a few clues and the oddity of less fuel in the car’s gas tank than there should be. A local shepherd also reports a mysterious man in a cloak and cap being seen walking across the fields about the time of the disappearance. Meredith dutifully keeps plodding away. And then part of a human hip bone is found at a local building project, buried in a load of lime. The lime is traced to the Rother operation.

And then John’s brother William is found dead, an apparent suicide with a note in his pocket. But Meredith isn’t satisfied. Something is clearly wrong.

The Sussex Downs Murder was originally published in 1936 and has been republished as part of the British Library Crime Classics series. It was written by John Bude, the penname for Ernest Carpenter Elmore (1901-1957).

Elmore was a theater producer and director in Britain who wrote 30 crime novels under the John Bude penname. Most of the John Bude novels involved Superintendent Meredith as the detective. He also wrote fantasy and children’s stories.

The hallmark of this mystery novel is not a brilliant detective. Instead, it is the detective’s understanding what happened, finding clues, formulating a theory, discarding the theory when new clues are discovered, or events force a change, and keep relentlessly at it. To his credit, Meredith keeps an open mind (most of the time), and gains clues and insights from farmers, shepherds, shopkeepers, and even his own teenaged son.

The solution to the mystery becomes somewhat obvious about halfway through The Sussex Downs Murder, but that doesn’t detract from the pleasure of watching a puzzle assembled and the mystery solved.

Related:

John Bude’s “The Lake District Murder.”

John Bude’s “The Cornish Coast Murder.”

Photograph of Sussex hills by Rucksack Magazine via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“Portrait of a Murderer” by Anne Meredith

It’s the early 1930s. The Gray family is gathering for Christmas, and both personal and economic shadows are growing. Adrian Gray, the patriarch, is facing straitened circumstances; his son-in-law has invested badly, including a considerable chunk of Gray’s fortune. The son-in-law, Eustace Moore, is expecting to have furious investors and the law on his heels at any moment, and is desperate to raise cash. The son and heir, Richard, finds himself overextended – keeping his wife well-dressed (and well-jeweled) in a loveless marriage, being blackmailed by his mistress, maintaining a position in Parliament, and trying to spend his way to a title. The youngest son, Brand, is a struggling artist, married to a woman the family refuses to acknowledge, trying to feed five children, and enduring a commercial artist’s job he can’t abide.

All of the Grays need money; the son-in-law and the sons think they can get it from the patriarch. Emotions and desperation are running high. And Adrian Gray is killed in one such act of desperation and anger, struck with a brass paperweight.

The reader knows who the murderer is. The reader watches the murderer develop a plot to implicate someone else.

Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith, originally published in 1933 and long out of print, is not the easiest of mystery novels to read. It’s also not a typical mystery novel. It’s one of those works in the mystery genre that aspires to something higher, and it largely succeeds.

The reader is taken into the interior landscape of the murderer. We understand why it happened, we feel little sympathy for the murder victim or really for any of the characters. Only one – the lawyer son-in-law of another of Adrian Gray’s daughters, is the most sympathetic, and he occupies only a very small role until near the end. And as despicable as the character is, there’s almost a desire to see the murderer get away with it. That took some considerable skill on the part of the author.

Lucy Beatrice Malleson, aka Anne Meredith

Anne Meredith was the pen name of Lucy Beatrice Malleson (1899-1973), who was best known for detective novels written under the name of Anthony Gilbert. Portrait of a Murderer is one of her few books available in print today, but in her lifetime was a highly respected mystery writer, praised by such writers as Dorothy Sayers. She wrote 69 crime novels, some 51 of which starred her most famous detective Arthur Crook.

Deservedly part of the British Library’s Crime Classic series, Portrait of a Murderer is a challenging read – but worth the challenge of hanging in there.

Top photo: an English manor house in the snow.