Arnold Landon is an unassuming county planning officer in Morpeth in northern England. He’s a bachelor, and his abiding passion in the study of medieval architecture, masonry, and the masons who constructed the old estates, castles, abbeys, farm homes, and even barns. His manager, the Senior Planning Officer, is a political type, hates confrontations, and pushes off work on this people, including Arnold, at every opportunity.
Arnold also seems attracts trouble at every opportunity. Including coming up with a number of innovative solutions to murder and other crimes.
His rare bookseller friend Ben asks him to meet with a publisher, who’s looking for someone to complete a manuscript by an author who committed suicide or was killed. The subject – medieval masonry – is right up Arnold’s alley. And he has enough spare time to fit the work in.
Roy Lewis
But this isn’t a simple publishing effort. The publisher is threatened, by a member of the Morpeth planning council, who also threatens Arnold with the loss of his job. And soon enough, Arnold finds himself defending charges of padding his expense reports. He’s put on leave with pay, which means he also has time to pursue what increasingly looks like criminal activity. And he’s helped by the bookseller’s niece, who’s filling in for her uncle while he recovers from a heart attack.
Murder in the House is the sixth Arnold Landon mystery by British author Roy Lewis, and it’s the best yet, which is saying a lot since the first five were excellent. Lewis weaves a fine tale and an engaging mystery. And Arnold Landon may be my favorite if his detectives yet.
Lewis is the author of some 60 other mysteries, novels, and short story collections. His Inspector Crow series includes A Lover Too Many, Murder in the Mine, The Woods Murder, Error of Judgment, and Murder for Money, among others. The Eric Ward series, of which The Sedleigh Hall Murder is the first (and originally published as A Certain Blindness in 1981), includes 17 novels. Lewis lives in northern England.
Related:
Murder in the Church by Roy Lewis.
Murder in the Barn by Roy Lewis.
Murder in the Manor by Roy Lewis.
Murder in the Farmhouse by Roy Lewis.
Murder in the Stableyard by Roy Lewis.
1 comment:
Man Glynn! You make me feel guilty. I keep saying I am going to read his books but then don't find the time. I'm afraid if i start I won't want to stop. :) our local library is slim pickings but I'll have to go check it out and even see if they can do an intra-library loan deal.
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