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Julian Rivers #11
Impact of Evidence
AMONG THE hills of the Welsh borders a little group of farmsteads is isolated by snow and ice, then floods. Late one afternoon there is a terrible car smash on a cross-roads in these hills. Old Dr. Robinson is found dead in his big saloon, which, thrown off the road by the violent impact, has crashed down on to the steep hillside, now sodden with flood-waters. That was no surprise—the old man should long before have been prevented from driving, he was a menace on the roads. But why was there a second body there back of Dr. Robinson's car?
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1954
98 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Carol Carnac
31 books26 followersEdith Caroline Rivett (who wrote under the pseudonyms E.C.R. Lorac, Carol Carnac, Carol Rivett, and Mary le Bourne) was a British crime writer. She was born in Hendon, Middlesex (now London). She attended the South Hampstead High School, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 26, 2025
Number 11 in the Julian Rivers series originally published in 1954 and now republished in 2024 as a British Library Crime Classic. The author's real name is Edith Caroline Rivett but her books were published under a number of pen names.
This mystery is set in the Welsh Border country, and when the book begins the local people are having a rough time with snow, rain and flooding. When a major vehicle crash occurs it is very difficult to access proper assistance however, when two bodies are discovered in one car - that of the driver plus a man in the back who has obviously been dead for days prior to the crash - it is deemed necessary for Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and D.I. Lancing from Scotland Yard to make their difficult way to the scene.
Who is the man in the back of the car? How did he die? How and where and why? It is an excellent mystery and it takes many interviews of local community members and careful sorting of all the clues to find the solution. Rivers and Lancing are both great characters, the mystery is intelligently constructed and the guilty party only possible to guess if you think like Julian Rivers. Even he nearly gets it wrong. A very entertaining read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This mystery is set in the Welsh Border country, and when the book begins the local people are having a rough time with snow, rain and flooding. When a major vehicle crash occurs it is very difficult to access proper assistance however, when two bodies are discovered in one car - that of the driver plus a man in the back who has obviously been dead for days prior to the crash - it is deemed necessary for Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and D.I. Lancing from Scotland Yard to make their difficult way to the scene.
Who is the man in the back of the car? How did he die? How and where and why? It is an excellent mystery and it takes many interviews of local community members and careful sorting of all the clues to find the solution. Rivers and Lancing are both great characters, the mystery is intelligently constructed and the guilty party only possible to guess if you think like Julian Rivers. Even he nearly gets it wrong. A very entertaining read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
February 27, 2023
Very enjoyable mystery set in the Welsh border countryside. The weather is the main character in this one. Rain, snow, vast flooding make the murder investigation quite difficult. But not to worry. Chief Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard is on the case.
Carol Carnac is also ECR Lorac, and she did absolutely nothing to change her style when she changed the name she wrote under. Julian Rivers is just as clever and solid as Robert Macdonald.
This one starts with a car crash involving a young farmer and an elderly doctor. The young farmer survives, the old doctor does not. The doctor's car ends up in a swollen stream; the first men on the scene have a hard time getting his body out. The also retrieve the body of a second man from the car. The man is a total mystery--no one recognizes him, no one knows how he came to be stashed in the backseat of the doctor's car. And, it turns out, he was dead before the car crash. Why was he in this remote area, why was he murdered, who put him in the doc's car? All questions the confront Rivers and the reader.
The author does a great job with a nice cast of characters: the solid farm family, the young couple who worked for the doctor, the shifty couple who are obvious suspects, the young farmer who survived the crash, the local magistrate. They are all real people. Rivers is accompanied by his #2, Detective Inspector Lancing, who is just delightful and a nice foil to Rivers.
The author plays fair with the reader--the revelation of the murderer made perfect sense. My only quibble afterwards was with the whole set-up re: disposing of mystery man's corpse. It made for a good, twisty mystery. However, I did come up with an easier way to have done the job., but it probably wouldn't have made as interesting of a story.
I was lucky enough to borrow this in book form through my local library's inter-library load service.
I wish more of her books were available.
Carol Carnac is also ECR Lorac, and she did absolutely nothing to change her style when she changed the name she wrote under. Julian Rivers is just as clever and solid as Robert Macdonald.
This one starts with a car crash involving a young farmer and an elderly doctor. The young farmer survives, the old doctor does not. The doctor's car ends up in a swollen stream; the first men on the scene have a hard time getting his body out. The also retrieve the body of a second man from the car. The man is a total mystery--no one recognizes him, no one knows how he came to be stashed in the backseat of the doctor's car. And, it turns out, he was dead before the car crash. Why was he in this remote area, why was he murdered, who put him in the doc's car? All questions the confront Rivers and the reader.
The author does a great job with a nice cast of characters: the solid farm family, the young couple who worked for the doctor, the shifty couple who are obvious suspects, the young farmer who survived the crash, the local magistrate. They are all real people. Rivers is accompanied by his #2, Detective Inspector Lancing, who is just delightful and a nice foil to Rivers.
The author plays fair with the reader--the revelation of the murderer made perfect sense. My only quibble afterwards was with the whole set-up re: disposing of mystery man's corpse. It made for a good, twisty mystery. However, I did come up with an easier way to have done the job., but it probably wouldn't have made as interesting of a story.
I was lucky enough to borrow this in book form through my local library's inter-library load service.
I wish more of her books were available.
April 21, 2024
A very slow paced Lorac that has some beautiful descriptions of the Welsh Valley, the flooding, and the ruggedness of Wales.
I liked the farming families and the social history of how hard post War farming was.
But the detectives just slowed the whole book down too much for me (I wish the farmers' son had investigated it, and we had been reading an amateur detective story)
I liked the farming families and the social history of how hard post War farming was.
But the detectives just slowed the whole book down too much for me (I wish the farmers' son had investigated it, and we had been reading an amateur detective story)
April 30, 2025
Buddy read with Jessica! Both this mystery and Crossed Skis deal with intense weather conditions. In this one, Julian and Lancing are off to a remote area in England (or was it actually in Wales?) where there has been a big car smash and a mysterious dead body, but the area is cut off by a raging river full of snow melt and debris. Despite this added complication, the two C.I.D. inspectors manage to wade through the many clues and personalities of the small cast of characters to get to the truth. I enjoyed the Lambtons, Colonel Wynne, and the Derings especially. (Though I wanted a bit more about Henry and Gwyn, Sue and Michael--what happens to them all after this?) I like Julian and Lancing's banter back and forth and it's fun that Lancing, as a city boy, struggles to light the old fashioned lamps and gets in a fight with a dead pig. Apparently it pays to be like Julian and have grown up on a farm if you want to be a detective. 😂
January 11, 2025
I have lost track of how many books by Edith Caroline Rivett I’ve read that she published under her pen name of E.C.R. Lorac. Those feature the exploits of the clever, practical Scottish-born Scotland Yard Robert Macdonald. Impact of Evidence, however, is my first exposure to the books Rivett released under the pseudonym Carol Carnac, and Rivett certainly didn’t disappoint.
Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Julian Rivers heads to St. Brynneys, located in the Welsh borderlands of England, to investigate a fatal car wreck that turns out to be more than just bad luck. No one’s surprised that old Dr. Robinson, nearly deaf, half-blind and a universally regarded “menace of the roads,” has killed himself, but who’s the dead stranger in Robinson’s backseat? One who was dead before the accident?
Despite Impact of Evidence being the 11th novel in the Julian Rivers series, I had no trouble following along. It appears to be like the Robert Macdonald books, which you can read in any order. I enjoyed both Chief Inspector Rivers and his cockney sidekick Inspector Lancing very much, and I really hope that British Library Publishing and Poisoned Pen Press will release many more of these Carnac novels.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.
Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Julian Rivers heads to St. Brynneys, located in the Welsh borderlands of England, to investigate a fatal car wreck that turns out to be more than just bad luck. No one’s surprised that old Dr. Robinson, nearly deaf, half-blind and a universally regarded “menace of the roads,” has killed himself, but who’s the dead stranger in Robinson’s backseat? One who was dead before the accident?
Despite Impact of Evidence being the 11th novel in the Julian Rivers series, I had no trouble following along. It appears to be like the Robert Macdonald books, which you can read in any order. I enjoyed both Chief Inspector Rivers and his cockney sidekick Inspector Lancing very much, and I really hope that British Library Publishing and Poisoned Pen Press will release many more of these Carnac novels.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.
August 1, 2024
I've really liked the mysteries that E.C.R. Lorac wrote as Carol Carnac, and I'm so glad they are now being brought back into the light by the British Library.
October 9, 2024
Another winner from E.C.R. Lorac (writing here as Carol Carnac), this time set in the hills of the Welsh borders during a nasty winter snow/flood. I love stories with a strong sense of place, and this author excels at portraying country landscapes and the farm families who live there. Of course, I didn’t catch on to whodunnit (and I still have a problem with how the culprit was able to pull off his final attempt to escape).
This was my first time to read about Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Rivers, but I will definitely seek out more.
This was my first time to read about Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Rivers, but I will definitely seek out more.
May 31, 2024
After the snow…
As the snow finally begins to melt in the hills on the Welsh border, the river floods, bringing down the bridge. A small farming community, already isolated by the long freeze, is now cut off from the outside world. Now that the local roads are free of fresh snow for the first time in weeks, old Doctor Robinson drives up the hill as he does regularly to take in the view. But as William Lambton and his son begin the milking on their nearby farm, they hear a crash. Dr Robinson has driven off the road into the river. The Lambtons and their neighbours rush to the scene but too late to save the old man. And then one of them spots someone else in the car – another body, of an unknown man. And with their knowledge of the cycles of life and death, it’s obvious to the Lambtons that the second man had been dead long before the crash. Young Henry Lambton battles through the weather to alert the authorities, and the local police inspector duly shows up, only to promptly have an accident (or was it?) that leaves him incapacitated. So the locals ask for the help of Scotland Yard, and soon Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and his sidekick, Inspector Lancing, are on their way…
Carol Carnac is a pen-name of Edith Caroline Rivett, best known to readers of the BL’s Crime Classics series under her other pen-name, ECR Lorac. I’m not sure why she used two names because the books are quite similar in style for the most part. However, the regular detective in the Lorac books is Inspector MacDonald, whereas Inspector Rivers seems to be the star of this Carnac series, so perhaps it’s as simple as that.
In terms of plotting and character, Lorac is as good as most of the vintage mystery writers, and better than some. But what makes her stand so far above most of the crowd is her wonderful ability to create settings and atmosphere. I love her London-set books, especially the ones set during the war, but I’ve gradually come to appreciate her rural settings even more. I can’t think of another mystery writer of that era who put real rural characters front and centre. Usually books set in the countryside are peopled by Londoners visiting country houses for a bit of recreation, and the locals are yokels who provide a bit of amusement, because who doesn’t like laughing at the working classes? But Lorac draws on her experience of rural life to people her books with farmers and tradespeople, and treats them with as much respect as, say, Dorothy L Sayers gives to her aristocrats and playboys.
In this one, I found the plot came a pretty far second behind the interest of seeing the community cope with the flood. First published in 1954, many of the men had served in the war, where they had gained survival skills that prove just as useful in this emergency. They can call on the local reserve forces to help with building a temporary bridge in a hurry, and there are still amphibious vehicles to be had – leftovers from wartime. But apart from the murder investigation, there’s the matter of ordinary day-to-day survival – feeding themselves, feeding their livestock, getting their produce out to market to ensure they don’t go bankrupt and so on. In an area with regular harsh winters, they know how to do these things routinely, and Lorac shows it’s a real community effort, with everyone chipping in as their particular skills allow.
What I most like about her is that she doesn’t give all this information as an info dump – it’s seamlessly worked into the story. It does mean her stories tend to be a little slower than some, but I find it absorbing. Her rural books – the ones I’ve read so far, anyway – stretch from the early days of the war to a decade or so after it, and together they give a real picture of how farming was impacted by the need to increase production while Germany was attempting to blockade food imports. That led to increased use of mechanisation and more intensive farming methods, and Lorac’s descriptions always seem to be right for the moment about which she’s writing, taking account of and often discussing those changes, and what they mean for the people who live and work in these communities.
The plot itself was a little weaker in this one, I felt. I never really developed much interest in the second body or the story behind what had happened. But I loved her characters – the Lambton family, their neighbours, the local squire who liaised with the Yard, and the CID men themselves – all beautifully set on their own level of a still very class structured society, and all clear about their expectations of each other. It was a simpler time when everyone knew their place and were relatively happy to stay in it! Again you get the sense of the war still hanging over society, in the way people still defer, not so much to the gentry, but to the officer class – sometimes the same thing, but not always.
So despite not finding the actual plot terribly interesting, yet again Lorac kept me glued to the pages, and gave me an insight into a way of life of which I have no experience.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
As the snow finally begins to melt in the hills on the Welsh border, the river floods, bringing down the bridge. A small farming community, already isolated by the long freeze, is now cut off from the outside world. Now that the local roads are free of fresh snow for the first time in weeks, old Doctor Robinson drives up the hill as he does regularly to take in the view. But as William Lambton and his son begin the milking on their nearby farm, they hear a crash. Dr Robinson has driven off the road into the river. The Lambtons and their neighbours rush to the scene but too late to save the old man. And then one of them spots someone else in the car – another body, of an unknown man. And with their knowledge of the cycles of life and death, it’s obvious to the Lambtons that the second man had been dead long before the crash. Young Henry Lambton battles through the weather to alert the authorities, and the local police inspector duly shows up, only to promptly have an accident (or was it?) that leaves him incapacitated. So the locals ask for the help of Scotland Yard, and soon Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and his sidekick, Inspector Lancing, are on their way…
Carol Carnac is a pen-name of Edith Caroline Rivett, best known to readers of the BL’s Crime Classics series under her other pen-name, ECR Lorac. I’m not sure why she used two names because the books are quite similar in style for the most part. However, the regular detective in the Lorac books is Inspector MacDonald, whereas Inspector Rivers seems to be the star of this Carnac series, so perhaps it’s as simple as that.
In terms of plotting and character, Lorac is as good as most of the vintage mystery writers, and better than some. But what makes her stand so far above most of the crowd is her wonderful ability to create settings and atmosphere. I love her London-set books, especially the ones set during the war, but I’ve gradually come to appreciate her rural settings even more. I can’t think of another mystery writer of that era who put real rural characters front and centre. Usually books set in the countryside are peopled by Londoners visiting country houses for a bit of recreation, and the locals are yokels who provide a bit of amusement, because who doesn’t like laughing at the working classes? But Lorac draws on her experience of rural life to people her books with farmers and tradespeople, and treats them with as much respect as, say, Dorothy L Sayers gives to her aristocrats and playboys.
In this one, I found the plot came a pretty far second behind the interest of seeing the community cope with the flood. First published in 1954, many of the men had served in the war, where they had gained survival skills that prove just as useful in this emergency. They can call on the local reserve forces to help with building a temporary bridge in a hurry, and there are still amphibious vehicles to be had – leftovers from wartime. But apart from the murder investigation, there’s the matter of ordinary day-to-day survival – feeding themselves, feeding their livestock, getting their produce out to market to ensure they don’t go bankrupt and so on. In an area with regular harsh winters, they know how to do these things routinely, and Lorac shows it’s a real community effort, with everyone chipping in as their particular skills allow.
What I most like about her is that she doesn’t give all this information as an info dump – it’s seamlessly worked into the story. It does mean her stories tend to be a little slower than some, but I find it absorbing. Her rural books – the ones I’ve read so far, anyway – stretch from the early days of the war to a decade or so after it, and together they give a real picture of how farming was impacted by the need to increase production while Germany was attempting to blockade food imports. That led to increased use of mechanisation and more intensive farming methods, and Lorac’s descriptions always seem to be right for the moment about which she’s writing, taking account of and often discussing those changes, and what they mean for the people who live and work in these communities.
The plot itself was a little weaker in this one, I felt. I never really developed much interest in the second body or the story behind what had happened. But I loved her characters – the Lambton family, their neighbours, the local squire who liaised with the Yard, and the CID men themselves – all beautifully set on their own level of a still very class structured society, and all clear about their expectations of each other. It was a simpler time when everyone knew their place and were relatively happy to stay in it! Again you get the sense of the war still hanging over society, in the way people still defer, not so much to the gentry, but to the officer class – sometimes the same thing, but not always.
So despite not finding the actual plot terribly interesting, yet again Lorac kept me glued to the pages, and gave me an insight into a way of life of which I have no experience.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
January 1, 2025
4.5 ⭐️ This enjoyable read is set in the Welsh border country where the changeable weather is another character and culprit. Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Rivers and Inspector Lancing were very clever in working a case in such a remote area where all neighbors were suspect. Highly recommended!
December 2, 2024
This book starts off with a bang and just keeps rolling till the end. I love the setting - very rural, hilly country that's had days of heavy snow which is now melting and causing flooding. It's almost impossible to get around, so when a car accident turns into a murder investigation I wasn't even sure how they'd get anyone there to detect. But like many rural folks these people are resourceful, and as the bodies mount up they continue working together to keep their livestock - and people - alive. But who among them is the killer?
I grew up on a small family farm and rarely do I read stories with settings like this that get the people right. Usually everyone is depicted as eccentric or ignorant or just plain lazy. But surviving on a farm is hard work and succeeding requires intelligence and resourcefulness. Those are qualities these folks have, at least the successful ones do. I appreciated that. And I loved the snowed-in flood waters rising setting. The book is set in the Welsh-English mountains in the mid-1950s, a time when rationing is just ending and the echoes of two World Wars are still being felt.
The author really made it all feel real to me and I read almost all of the book in one sitting.
The ending was satisfying, though I did have a couple of quibbles, it wasn't enough to lower my rating of this excellent mystery. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery or enjoys historical fiction.
I grew up on a small family farm and rarely do I read stories with settings like this that get the people right. Usually everyone is depicted as eccentric or ignorant or just plain lazy. But surviving on a farm is hard work and succeeding requires intelligence and resourcefulness. Those are qualities these folks have, at least the successful ones do. I appreciated that. And I loved the snowed-in flood waters rising setting. The book is set in the Welsh-English mountains in the mid-1950s, a time when rationing is just ending and the echoes of two World Wars are still being felt.
The author really made it all feel real to me and I read almost all of the book in one sitting.
The ending was satisfying, though I did have a couple of quibbles, it wasn't enough to lower my rating of this excellent mystery. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery or enjoys historical fiction.
May 2, 2024
Love these British Library Crime novels. They always have a decent mystery in them. Enjoyed the plot and characters here and especially the descriptions of the weather and its effects on the environment.
March 6, 2024
Another classic Lorac/Carnac novel, wonderful scene setting, similar to her Lancashire mysteries. I enjoyed this very much.
February 18, 2024
A wonderfully evoked plot where floods resulting from thawing snow and incessant rain cut off the small community of St Brynneys. This provides a closed list of suspects when a car crash results in the death of the doctor and an unknown other person is also found, leading foul play to be suspected. One star off for a slightly weak ending, where a couple bits of additional evidence are suddenly provided along with the solution.
December 8, 2024
I like MacDonald better than Rivers (though they're very similar), but I really enjoyed this Welsh borders mystery. It had a great hill country setting and the bleak weather makes it a good Christmas read, even though the time frame is technically February.
I find Carnac/Lorac's mysteries most enjoyable when they're set in a farming community, whether that be in Lancashire or, as here, in the Welsh borders. She writes so that the harsh landscape becomes a character in the story, and she clearly had a great affinity for the people who made their livings there. Her realism and attention to detail are things that strike me as quite a bit different from Agatha Christie, whose focus (I think) was always on the puzzle itself and the psychology of the crime rather than on the characters' lives or the world they inhabited. Carnac/Lorac is allllll about the characters and their world. Reading her careful depictions of everything from digging sheep out of snowdrifts to churning butter to fixing Ford engines, it's hard for me to imagine she wasn't steeped in that life herself, or that she hadn't spent all her years in whatever remote setting she selected for her book (I don't know much about the author, but I don't think this was actually the case?).
This focus on characters-and-world doesn't mean her stories aren't puzzling, but it does mean the solution isn't always 100% satisfying. I thought I'd solved this one, but nope! The reveal here mostly makes sense, though I was left scratching my head over one point: One thing I'm finding with this author is that, unlike Christie, she didn't tend to go for the "least likely suspect" rule of thumb. In fact,
Lorac/Carnac wrote mysteries that don't feel particularly clever or artful: they don't leave you feeling wowed by the master plotting behind them. But most of the ones I've read so far do feel like they could happen. As much as I always want to find out whodunit and try to work it out for myself, I think I enjoy them more as a depiction of their era, and particularly for their attention to detail, than as puzzles. This is good, because I WILL say that the exposition can occasionally slow down and leave me impatient: the detectives do a lot of back-and-forthing and sometimes points the reader already knows get repeated in dialogue. That happened in IMPACT OF EVIDENCE. Despite the duller patches, though, I still had a good time and heartily enjoyed the narration of the audiobook.
I find Carnac/Lorac's mysteries most enjoyable when they're set in a farming community, whether that be in Lancashire or, as here, in the Welsh borders. She writes so that the harsh landscape becomes a character in the story, and she clearly had a great affinity for the people who made their livings there. Her realism and attention to detail are things that strike me as quite a bit different from Agatha Christie, whose focus (I think) was always on the puzzle itself and the psychology of the crime rather than on the characters' lives or the world they inhabited. Carnac/Lorac is allllll about the characters and their world. Reading her careful depictions of everything from digging sheep out of snowdrifts to churning butter to fixing Ford engines, it's hard for me to imagine she wasn't steeped in that life herself, or that she hadn't spent all her years in whatever remote setting she selected for her book (I don't know much about the author, but I don't think this was actually the case?).
This focus on characters-and-world doesn't mean her stories aren't puzzling, but it does mean the solution isn't always 100% satisfying. I thought I'd solved this one, but nope! The reveal here mostly makes sense, though I was left scratching my head over one point: One thing I'm finding with this author is that, unlike Christie, she didn't tend to go for the "least likely suspect" rule of thumb. In fact,
Lorac/Carnac wrote mysteries that don't feel particularly clever or artful: they don't leave you feeling wowed by the master plotting behind them. But most of the ones I've read so far do feel like they could happen. As much as I always want to find out whodunit and try to work it out for myself, I think I enjoy them more as a depiction of their era, and particularly for their attention to detail, than as puzzles. This is good, because I WILL say that the exposition can occasionally slow down and leave me impatient: the detectives do a lot of back-and-forthing and sometimes points the reader already knows get repeated in dialogue. That happened in IMPACT OF EVIDENCE. Despite the duller patches, though, I still had a good time and heartily enjoyed the narration of the audiobook.
June 28, 2025
A wonderful evocation of the English side of the Welsh marches and the relentless winter weather, which would mean more to British readers as the little I know about Wales comes from Dylan Thomas and Welcome to Wrexham.
March 9, 2024
A very atmospheric mystery from the early 1950's set in the Welsh borders at a time of flooding. A remote rural area cut off. An unknown body found in a car crash. A closed circle of suspects. A satisfying dénouement.
February 13, 2024
I felt I was there in the floods! Well-written, entertaining story by Carol Carnac, aka ECR Lorac etc etc. Introduction by the trustworthy Martin Edwards.
June 8, 2025
Really interesting survey of the speculation about loads of clues as they become apparent. Solid characters. The best of the country folk are salt of the earth.
August 31, 2024
3+ stars.
I really enjoyed the setting for this mystery, and the isolation aspect brought about by a winter time flood added to that. For me, the idea of the story was much more appealing than it worked out to be yet I was keen to keep listening until the end as Carol gave us so many characters I could like and be invested in, and I really didn’t want them to be the culprit. I would never have guessed who murdered the man in the back of the car as there just weren’t enough obvious clues, for me, to work that out, nor who murdered him: Carol Carnac, true to her E.C.R Lorac style, gifted us a few good red-herrings to help muddy the waters.
I really enjoyed the setting for this mystery, and the isolation aspect brought about by a winter time flood added to that. For me, the idea of the story was much more appealing than it worked out to be yet I was keen to keep listening until the end as Carol gave us so many characters I could like and be invested in, and I really didn’t want them to be the culprit. I would never have guessed who murdered the man in the back of the car as there just weren’t enough obvious clues, for me, to work that out, nor who murdered him: Carol Carnac, true to her E.C.R Lorac style, gifted us a few good red-herrings to help muddy the waters.
February 8, 2025
E.C.R. Lorac once again proves that she's the queen of the twisty whodunnit! When neighbors rush to the scene of a deadly crash on snowy Welsh border hill roads, they find not only the body of their neighbor, but also that of an unknown man in the backseat. The authorities are faced with a group of tight-lipped but observant farmers, incomers with pasts in various shades of suspicious, and a timeline that just doesn't add up. Ongoing storms and melt-off floods make communications and investigations difficult, but the truth eventually surfaces. I was completely surprised by the ending, and truly enjoyed the literary visit to Welsh farm country. Highly recommended.
May 25, 2024
I rather liked this one. It certainly captured my attention, at least; I read it over the course of just one day. The atmosphere and the setting are beautifully created and described, and the characters' inner lives and everyday activities were far more realistic for the time and place of the work. The plot felt a bit convoluted, and I had not solved the mystery by the time the answer was revealed in the canon, but it was an intriguing solution.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
January 1, 2025
Impact Of Evidence is a 1954 mystery novel by Carol Carnac (pen name of prolific author Edith Caroline Rivett, whose best known works were published as E. C. R. Lorac). Rivett wrote over seventy novels during her career. Surprisingly, this book disappeared shortly after it was published. This new British Crime Classics edition is the first printed in seventy years and will be published in the US by Poisoned Pen Press.
The story is set in Welsh border country in a region isolated by melting snow and floods. An unfortunate auto accident claims the life of the local doctor who was known as a terror on the roads. But when the body of a second man who had been killed days before in the back of the doctor's car, it becomes a murder investigation. Soon, detectives from Scotland Yard are called in to unravel the mystery.
Having read and enjoyed several of the Lorac novels, I had high hopes for this book. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. For one thing, the descriptions are so detailed and lush that you feel as though you're in the middle of the Welsh hill country. She also does a great job of leading the reader through the investigation and even throwing the reader off with ample false leads along the way.
I really enjoyed this book. I have really come to appreciate Rivett's writing. She has the ability to immerse the reader in the settings of her novels. Her descriptions are so detailed that you feel like you're really there. I'm convinced that Rivett is one of the more underrated authors of the Golden Age. Thanks to the republication of books like this one, more readers will be able to discover her books.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book.
The story is set in Welsh border country in a region isolated by melting snow and floods. An unfortunate auto accident claims the life of the local doctor who was known as a terror on the roads. But when the body of a second man who had been killed days before in the back of the doctor's car, it becomes a murder investigation. Soon, detectives from Scotland Yard are called in to unravel the mystery.
Having read and enjoyed several of the Lorac novels, I had high hopes for this book. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. For one thing, the descriptions are so detailed and lush that you feel as though you're in the middle of the Welsh hill country. She also does a great job of leading the reader through the investigation and even throwing the reader off with ample false leads along the way.
I really enjoyed this book. I have really come to appreciate Rivett's writing. She has the ability to immerse the reader in the settings of her novels. Her descriptions are so detailed that you feel like you're really there. I'm convinced that Rivett is one of the more underrated authors of the Golden Age. Thanks to the republication of books like this one, more readers will be able to discover her books.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book.
July 12, 2025
Such a good police procedural featuring new detectives for me. Rivers and Lancing make a good team and they reminded me of Dorothy Simpson’s DI Thanet and DS Lineham as a good natured, dogged and thoughtful experts you could admire as they puzzle out the cause of a suspicious death.
Lorac was so prolific I doubt whether I’ll ever read even half her output; they all seem to be gems — definitely worth spending time with.
We are in mid 1950s remote Welsh border country (Worcestershire/Shropshire) and Scotland Yard are called in when a crashed car reveals an extra body none of the locals can identify - a stranger who seems to have been dead some hours before the accident. The characters are all well drawn and we gain from frequent summing up of the evidence as the detectives apply their knowledge of country ways and modern technology to excellent effect. “That’s all according to Cocker.” A great phrase I shall use myself.
It’s also nice when one of the main suspects is a miserable old bugger called Evans:
“I can tell you there’s going to be a bit of grousing when Swansea and Cardiff get my requests for information. Evans — there must be millions of them.” Including me!
Lorac was so prolific I doubt whether I’ll ever read even half her output; they all seem to be gems — definitely worth spending time with.
We are in mid 1950s remote Welsh border country (Worcestershire/Shropshire) and Scotland Yard are called in when a crashed car reveals an extra body none of the locals can identify - a stranger who seems to have been dead some hours before the accident. The characters are all well drawn and we gain from frequent summing up of the evidence as the detectives apply their knowledge of country ways and modern technology to excellent effect. “That’s all according to Cocker.” A great phrase I shall use myself.
It’s also nice when one of the main suspects is a miserable old bugger called Evans:
“I can tell you there’s going to be a bit of grousing when Swansea and Cardiff get my requests for information. Evans — there must be millions of them.” Including me!
July 29, 2024
Gift card | I've been reading a lot of heavier literature recently, and enjoyed indulging in a cozy this evening. Even though it was the English side of the Welsh Borders, haha! No surprises here, but still well-plotted, and some strong characters.
Want to read
April 18, 2019Synopsis: one afternoon near Wales, there is a terrible car smash at a cross-roads. Dr. Robinson is found dead, but there's a second body. Who?
May 16, 2024
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March 29, 2024
This book is subtitled “A Welsh Borders Mystery”, and the setting of a largely inaccessible landscape is an important element of this excellent mystery. The author is probably better known in the British Library Crime Classics and elsewhere as E.C.R. Lorac, another of her several pen names, and the decision to reprint this apparently very rare novel is an excellent choice. Martin Edwards’ informative Introduction explains how it fits into the author’s work.
This book has all the classic elements of a crime novel of the period, a small community from which a suspect can be isolated, deep-rooted secrets which may become motives, and excellent character descriptions. It features Carnac’s series detectives, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing who become involved after a local police officer is injured in a surprising development, and Rivers is given full scope to display his background and knowledge of farming. These are important factors as the mystery appears deeply hidden among the isolated farms and trackways of a hill district changed by extreme weather and a vehicle accident. The significance of being cut off by ice, water and floods means that even the potential crime scenes are difficult to access, and those involved must tackle challenging circumstances to even retrieve bodies and the injured. I particularly enjoyed the fact that while the male characters are well drawn, the few woman characters are varied and insightful. The author reveals a deep knowledge of the area and the significance of the landscape, giving her characters descriptive powers that make it come alive. I really enjoyed this engaging and well written book and was very grateful for the opportunity to read and review it.
The novel begins with a discussion amongst the Lambton family about the terrible driving of local retired doctor, Dr Robinson, whose age, eyesight, and deafness have made him less than safe driving his big car locally, especially given the narrowness of the roads. Henry, the eldest son of the household, gives his well-argued opinion forcefully – he is an expert at dealing with recalcitrant vehicles of all types, as well as an ability to deal with a crisis. When a large crash alerts him and others to a terrible accident, he fears what he will find; the doctor’s car has failed to stop when necessary and crossed the road in the path of another car, and now both vehicles are in danger of disappearing into the river. They find one driver dazed but unhurt, and he is returned to the Lambton house to be cared for, but the other car must be quickly evacuated before it sinks into a raging river. As expected, they find the elderly doctor’s body, but also manage to recover the bring out another dead man, who nobody recognises and seems that was already dead when the crash occurred. Cut off from the rest of the world, Henry and another man manage to struggle through to report the fatalities to Colonel Wynne, a practically minded magistrate who enlists local military men to organise much needed transport over the challenging landscape. When Rivers and Lancing begin their investigations, hampered by floods and other challenges, they begin to discover that those who live in such difficult circumstances have many secrets.
I felt that this novel kept me guessing while setting up a terrific atmosphere and complex plot. The geography of the crime sites is a little tricky to understand, and the way that it is cut off perhaps difficult to visualise, but the sense of the people involved is very well constructed. I found this an unusual murder mystery with real depth of characters which makes much of the setting and circumstances. I recommend it as a good read, and I am really pleased that this very rare novel will find a new audience.
This book has all the classic elements of a crime novel of the period, a small community from which a suspect can be isolated, deep-rooted secrets which may become motives, and excellent character descriptions. It features Carnac’s series detectives, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing who become involved after a local police officer is injured in a surprising development, and Rivers is given full scope to display his background and knowledge of farming. These are important factors as the mystery appears deeply hidden among the isolated farms and trackways of a hill district changed by extreme weather and a vehicle accident. The significance of being cut off by ice, water and floods means that even the potential crime scenes are difficult to access, and those involved must tackle challenging circumstances to even retrieve bodies and the injured. I particularly enjoyed the fact that while the male characters are well drawn, the few woman characters are varied and insightful. The author reveals a deep knowledge of the area and the significance of the landscape, giving her characters descriptive powers that make it come alive. I really enjoyed this engaging and well written book and was very grateful for the opportunity to read and review it.
The novel begins with a discussion amongst the Lambton family about the terrible driving of local retired doctor, Dr Robinson, whose age, eyesight, and deafness have made him less than safe driving his big car locally, especially given the narrowness of the roads. Henry, the eldest son of the household, gives his well-argued opinion forcefully – he is an expert at dealing with recalcitrant vehicles of all types, as well as an ability to deal with a crisis. When a large crash alerts him and others to a terrible accident, he fears what he will find; the doctor’s car has failed to stop when necessary and crossed the road in the path of another car, and now both vehicles are in danger of disappearing into the river. They find one driver dazed but unhurt, and he is returned to the Lambton house to be cared for, but the other car must be quickly evacuated before it sinks into a raging river. As expected, they find the elderly doctor’s body, but also manage to recover the bring out another dead man, who nobody recognises and seems that was already dead when the crash occurred. Cut off from the rest of the world, Henry and another man manage to struggle through to report the fatalities to Colonel Wynne, a practically minded magistrate who enlists local military men to organise much needed transport over the challenging landscape. When Rivers and Lancing begin their investigations, hampered by floods and other challenges, they begin to discover that those who live in such difficult circumstances have many secrets.
I felt that this novel kept me guessing while setting up a terrific atmosphere and complex plot. The geography of the crime sites is a little tricky to understand, and the way that it is cut off perhaps difficult to visualise, but the sense of the people involved is very well constructed. I found this an unusual murder mystery with real depth of characters which makes much of the setting and circumstances. I recommend it as a good read, and I am really pleased that this very rare novel will find a new audience.
January 15, 2025
I continue to enjoy the British Library Crime Classic reprints of lesser known or forgotten golden age mysteries, I am coming up on 100 of these novels completed. “Impact of Evidence”, a Welsh borders mystery, is one of the latest to be reprinted by Carol Carnac (real name was actually Edith Caroline Rivett), who also writes as E.C.R. Lorac, author of the fantastic Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald stories. Ms. Carnac features Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing from Scotland Yard in her stories, somewhat different but still quite entertaining.
As usual with Ms. Carnac, we have a detailed description of life in the British countryside during the 1950’s, the rhythm and flow of small villages and farming communities, the unhurried pace and mutual aid that defines how these places can survive on their own. Instead of the Fells that Macdonald often explores, this time we are in border country, near Wales, in the small farming village of St. Brynneys, where the snowmelt and rough weather have led to a fatal car crash. The victim was Doctor Robinson, an old retired doctor who was known to be a poor driver but still took his car out daily (weather permitting) to take in the view over the countryside. This time Robinson was struck by the jeep of Bob Parsons, a young farmer, at a dangerous intersection. Bob was thrown clear and was able to survive the collision, but Robinson unfortunately did not. The crash is heard throughout the valley, and pretty soon Will Lambton, with his son Henry and another farm worker, go out to the site to help where they could, since the flood waters are starting to make travel hazardous/impossible and the local phone lines are down. They are able to tend to Bob and retrieve Robinson’s body, but they get a shock when they find a second body in Robinson’s car, a stranger who none of them recognize.
Recognizing that this is a police matter, they make their way to the local squire, Colonel Wynne, who (the next day) is able to get across the river and summon help in the form of Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing from Scotland Yard. Rivers and Lancing make it through as the waters rise and St. Brynneys is (practically) cut off from the rest of the world. Confirming that the second man was murdered, and the fact that the floods and melting snows make the list of suspects quite small, Rivers and Lancing have to work with the insular community and discover the identity of the dead stranger and the strange circumstances of the accident. It seems that everyone has a secret to hide, that people are trying to escape their pasts. But which of these secrets had led to murder?
Another fine mystery from Ms. Rivett, who is one of the best at capturing the rhythms of rural life. In this case maybe a bit too much time is spent on day-to-day farm life, but still a compelling story, with the rising floodwaters providing an interesting twist on the country murder.
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
As usual with Ms. Carnac, we have a detailed description of life in the British countryside during the 1950’s, the rhythm and flow of small villages and farming communities, the unhurried pace and mutual aid that defines how these places can survive on their own. Instead of the Fells that Macdonald often explores, this time we are in border country, near Wales, in the small farming village of St. Brynneys, where the snowmelt and rough weather have led to a fatal car crash. The victim was Doctor Robinson, an old retired doctor who was known to be a poor driver but still took his car out daily (weather permitting) to take in the view over the countryside. This time Robinson was struck by the jeep of Bob Parsons, a young farmer, at a dangerous intersection. Bob was thrown clear and was able to survive the collision, but Robinson unfortunately did not. The crash is heard throughout the valley, and pretty soon Will Lambton, with his son Henry and another farm worker, go out to the site to help where they could, since the flood waters are starting to make travel hazardous/impossible and the local phone lines are down. They are able to tend to Bob and retrieve Robinson’s body, but they get a shock when they find a second body in Robinson’s car, a stranger who none of them recognize.
Recognizing that this is a police matter, they make their way to the local squire, Colonel Wynne, who (the next day) is able to get across the river and summon help in the form of Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing from Scotland Yard. Rivers and Lancing make it through as the waters rise and St. Brynneys is (practically) cut off from the rest of the world. Confirming that the second man was murdered, and the fact that the floods and melting snows make the list of suspects quite small, Rivers and Lancing have to work with the insular community and discover the identity of the dead stranger and the strange circumstances of the accident. It seems that everyone has a secret to hide, that people are trying to escape their pasts. But which of these secrets had led to murder?
Another fine mystery from Ms. Rivett, who is one of the best at capturing the rhythms of rural life. In this case maybe a bit too much time is spent on day-to-day farm life, but still a compelling story, with the rising floodwaters providing an interesting twist on the country murder.
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
April 2, 2024
4.5*
Impact of Evidence is set in the Welsh Borders where the combination of snow, ice and rain has all but cut off the isolated small community of St. Brynneys from the outside world with floods. The farmers in St Brynneys are used to the winter weather, but old Doctor Robinson, known as ‘a menace on the roads’ due to failing eyesight and hearing, for whatever reason decides he has to drive somewhere.
The noise of a car crash was heard by Will Lambton and his son, Henry. The Lambtons and one of the workers make their way very carefully to the crash site in Lambton’s old Ford. They find their neighbour Bob Parsons in a bad way having been thrown out of his vehicle when Doctor Robinson was unaware of the other vehicle and caused a collision. The doctor’s car had upended over a bank into a stream.
Another shock awaited the men when they discovered a second body in the car, a man unknown to anyone. So the question is did the doctor know the man or was it something more sinister. The Lambtons realised they had to inform the authorities of the accident and their only option was to attempt the six mile walk to the local magistrate, which task fell to Henry and Mike, another neighbour. As the local police do their best to unravel the mystery Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing from Scotland Yard are called in.
The characters are well observed, the atmospheric setting is wonderfully described and plays a huge part in the story, highlighting the harshness of life for farmers in what are inhospitable landscapes during winter.
The mystery is a clever, twisty one and I didn’t expect the conclusion. Although reminiscent of characters and settings in the author’s books under her pen name of E.C.R. Lorac, Impact Of Evidence is as well written, enjoyable and engaging as the other books I’ve read by this author.
Impact of Evidence is set in the Welsh Borders where the combination of snow, ice and rain has all but cut off the isolated small community of St. Brynneys from the outside world with floods. The farmers in St Brynneys are used to the winter weather, but old Doctor Robinson, known as ‘a menace on the roads’ due to failing eyesight and hearing, for whatever reason decides he has to drive somewhere.
The noise of a car crash was heard by Will Lambton and his son, Henry. The Lambtons and one of the workers make their way very carefully to the crash site in Lambton’s old Ford. They find their neighbour Bob Parsons in a bad way having been thrown out of his vehicle when Doctor Robinson was unaware of the other vehicle and caused a collision. The doctor’s car had upended over a bank into a stream.
Another shock awaited the men when they discovered a second body in the car, a man unknown to anyone. So the question is did the doctor know the man or was it something more sinister. The Lambtons realised they had to inform the authorities of the accident and their only option was to attempt the six mile walk to the local magistrate, which task fell to Henry and Mike, another neighbour. As the local police do their best to unravel the mystery Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing from Scotland Yard are called in.
The characters are well observed, the atmospheric setting is wonderfully described and plays a huge part in the story, highlighting the harshness of life for farmers in what are inhospitable landscapes during winter.
The mystery is a clever, twisty one and I didn’t expect the conclusion. Although reminiscent of characters and settings in the author’s books under her pen name of E.C.R. Lorac, Impact Of Evidence is as well written, enjoyable and engaging as the other books I’ve read by this author.
Read
November 13, 2024This is subtitled “A Welsh Borders Mystery”, which you could be forgiven for thinking is just a colourful flourish, some slightly unusual setting to distinguish the book from the many other mysteries out there. Actually, the setting is incredibly significant: because the hamlet of St Brynneys is so remote, and because the weather has been so bad, there are very limited times between which the murderer, and indeed at least one of the victims, could have moved around. It’s a subtler way of creating environmental tension than the usual country-house-party-gets-snowed-in, and it’s easier to accept because the disastrous storm has real consequences in the world apart from making it hard to get the police in; some of the smallholders in the highest hills need emergency food relief sent to them, the Army is drafted in to help excavate flooded roads and bridges, and when various characters are detained under suspicion, their first thought is for who will volunteer to feed their livestock. The sense of tight-knit rural community and the demands that such living makes on people is well conveyed in the Lambton family, a farming couple who have two young adult children and have adopted an adolescent orphan boy named Ken, partly for the extra pair of hands but clearly with real affection. And yet that awareness that you can never really know your neighbours is also highlighted, as the Lambtons and two other local couples, the Evanses and the Derings, reveal and discover each others’ secrets. The ultimate solution to the mystery is not particularly important or interesting—in retrospect, it’s the person that the conventions of these texts require it to be, the one who seemingly couldn’t have done it—but I did enjoy this very much for the snapshot of life on the land after the Second World War. A pleasant surprise!
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