E.C.R Lorac
"An invitation to a "treasure hunt" open to thriller writers and lesser mortals confronts Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Macdonald with two baffling deaths."— Kirkus Reviews
It's all fun and games (and fake names) until someone ends up dead...
Amidst the confusion of too many fake names, clues, ciphers, and convoluted alibis, Chief Inspector Macdonald and his allies in the CID must unravel a truly tangled case in
..."[An] excellent fair-play mystery...this British Library Crime Classic more than deserves that status."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review
On a dismally foggy night in Hampstead, London, a curious party has gathered in an artist's studio to weather the wartime blackout.
As World War II takes its toll around them, a civil servant and a government scientist are matching wits in a game of chess, while
...Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
"The intricacies of the characters' relationships and the trove of secrets Scotland Yard Inspector Macdonald uncovers make for riveting reading." —Booklist
Bruce Attleton dazzled London's literary scene with his first two novels—but his early promise did not bear fruit. His wife Sybilla is a glittering actress, unforgiving of Bruce's failure,
...[A] twisty "snake in the garden" country-house mystery [where] Lorac constructs a challenging puzzle and provides a marvelous glimpse into pre-WWII Oxford life." — Booklist, Starred Review
"Lorac keeps everything professional and smartly paced"— Kirkus Reviews
"Now tell us about your crime novel. Take my advice and don't try to be intellectual over it. What the public likes is blood."
The
...Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
"A terrifically atmospheric puzzler...the ending is a stunner...like the best Golden Age crime fiction." —Booklist STARRED review
'"A man who played about on the fringes of the Black Market, who had fought for Sinn Fein, who lived by his wits—and who finally became dangerous to somebody and was knocked over the head in the blackout.
...Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
"Readers will enjoy watching the conflicts that arise between the wary country folk and the cocktail-drinking Londoners invading their habitat. In sum, this is jolly good fun." —Publishers Weekly
The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Devon—renting a thatched
...E. C. R. Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humor and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers, who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a male author.
Vivian Lestrange—celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse—has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. After he was reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects
...