E.C.R. Lorac

After all, under its gaiety and brilliance, Vienna has always been a centre of intrigue. The distinguished industrialist, the fair girl, and the aggressive young man—although Superintendent McDonald tried to avoid studying his fellow-passengers, he simply couldn't help it. For him, it was difficult to adjust to being on holiday. He turned away deliberately. These people weren't his problem; he...

On a dismally foggy night in Hampstead, London, a curious party has gathered in an artist's studio to weather the wartime blackout. A civil servant and a government scientist are matching wits in a game of chess, while an artist paints the portrait of his characterful sitter, bedecked in Cardinal's robes at the other end of the room. In the...

It all began with sheep-stealing. A hateful act among the shepherds of the fells, and yet not a matter of life and death. Then came arson, and with the leaping of the flames, death and disorder reached the peaceful moors. Holidaying with his friends the Hoggetts in High Gimmerdale while on a trip to find some farmland for his retirement,...

In London's Bloomsbury, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard looks down at a dismal scene. Here is the victim, burnt to a crisp. Here are the clues — clues which point to a good climber and expert skier, and which lead Rivers to the piercing sunshine and sparkling snow of the Austrian Alps. Yet there is something sinister beneath the...

I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded mind. Vivian Lestrange, celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse, has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects...

First published in 1944, Fell Murder sees E.C.R. Lorac at the height of her considerable powers as a purveyor of well-made, traditional, and emphatic detective fiction. The book presents a fascinating 'return of the prodigal’ mystery set in the later stages of the Second World War amidst the close-knit farmerfolk community of Lancashire’s lovely Lune valley. The Garths had farmed...

E.C.R. Lorac must be seriously considered for the position of leading writer of classic detective stories. – Birmingham Post While hot on the heels of serial coupon-racketeer Gordon Ginner, Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard receives word of a peculiar incident up in Lancashire. The fishing cottage of a local farmer has been broken into, with an assortment of seemingly...

"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 Surrays and their five children form a prolific writing machine, with scores of treatises, reviews, and crime thrillers published under their family name. Following a rare convergence of the whole household at their Oxfordshire home,...

A lost novel from the golden age of crime, published for the very first time. It happened on a dark and misty night; the night of the ball at The Prince's Hall, Fordings. Abuzz with rumours surrounding the disappearance of Rosemary Reeve on the eve of last year's ball, the date proves ill-fated again when two homebound partygoers, Nick and...

Should detectives go to parties? Was it consistent with the dignity of the Yard? The inspector tossed for it—and went. Chief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at the house of Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of Murder by Mesmerism. Despite a handful of misgivings, the inspector joins a guestlist of novelists and thriller writers disguised...