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Robert Macdonald #13
Bats in the Belfry
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, and the couple lead separate lives in their house at Regent's Park.
When Bruce is called away on a sudden trip to Paris, he vanishes completely—until his suitcase and passport are found in a sinister artist's studio, the Belfry, in a crumbling house in Notting Hill. Inspector Macdonald must uncover Bruce's secrets, and find out the identity of his mysterious blackmailer.
This intricate mystery from a classic writer is set in a superbly evoked London of the 1930s.
253 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
180 people are currently reading
886 people want to read
About the author
E.C.R. Lorac
74 books177 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 232 reviews
May 8, 2024
3.75 stars
You really must like golden-age mysteries to enjoy this book. It is fairly well done but has its annoying qualities. I floundered around in the middle hoping it would move along faster. Lorac wrote many of these mystery books and was fairly popular in her day.
There are a moderate amount of characters, all suspects. They are posh 1930s urbanites and I found all of them unsympathetic, arrogant, and unfunny. Of course they were supposed to be to a degree. Anti-semitism is unpleasant. The saving grace was the police who used forensics of the time with a Scottish Inspector, MacDonald, who really was a good creation. Several of the suspects try to help, but it is MacDonald who takes the lead.
This book had the misfortune to come out the same year as two classic Agatha Christie books, Dumb Witness and Death on the Nile. No comparison for me. Bats in the Belfry does have lots of interesting slang of the time, has a fun London setting and of course MacDonald, who gets more respect from his author than Inspector Japp does from Christie.
You really must like golden-age mysteries to enjoy this book. It is fairly well done but has its annoying qualities. I floundered around in the middle hoping it would move along faster. Lorac wrote many of these mystery books and was fairly popular in her day.
There are a moderate amount of characters, all suspects. They are posh 1930s urbanites and I found all of them unsympathetic, arrogant, and unfunny. Of course they were supposed to be to a degree. Anti-semitism is unpleasant. The saving grace was the police who used forensics of the time with a Scottish Inspector, MacDonald, who really was a good creation. Several of the suspects try to help, but it is MacDonald who takes the lead.
This book had the misfortune to come out the same year as two classic Agatha Christie books, Dumb Witness and Death on the Nile. No comparison for me. Bats in the Belfry does have lots of interesting slang of the time, has a fun London setting and of course MacDonald, who gets more respect from his author than Inspector Japp does from Christie.
September 8, 2021
A pretty good mystery peopled with a good number of characters that I hoped for bad things to befall. I've read only one other by E.C.R. Lorac and that is
Crossed Skis
under her pen name Carol Carnac and loved it so I was pretty sure a good story was to be told here.
There are many characters introduced in the beginning and also a discussion of how one would kill another while concealing any connection. This is important to what proceeds in the story. In fact, much in the initial opening is relevant and speaks to Lorac's deft plotting. I was able to narrow down my main suspect early enough (because of the first thing they do that tips the first domino in this trap) but not the why or exactly how. I so enjoyed the puzzle and following along with Macdonald and his officers as bodies start turning up in grisly states and circumstances. That so many of the characters are missing and or lying at any given time made for some interesting revelations. Hidden relations, blackmail, secret passports, happenstance deaths that may not have been, inheritance, failed careers, love and malice. All here.
One of the wildest revelations is that one character had taken their hiding their Jewish ancestry to quite stunning a length all in aid of marrying a vocal and dedicated anti-Semite and another character was hoping no one told the anti-Semite before the marriage can occur. A straight-up trash character and one just about no one could stand and my sympathies lay with the character still enamoured of them to the end. There are several instances of an ethnic slur referring to people of southern European extraction used throughout that I found offensive and grating but it does track with the type of characters here using it casually at the time.
In the end, the killer is caught in a tense pursuit that I can only wonder is a hallmark of Lorac as it was reminiscent of how Crossed Skis resolved. Much page-turning action! Macdonald relates the details to a character who winds up being a protagonist but whom I never warmed to as he's a bit obsessed with marrying a young woman he's afraid if he has to wait until she's twenty-one, will be so "grown" she'll decide she would not want to marry him after all. It's not an endearing quality of a suitor to this woman reader so... meh on that guy getting what he wants in the end. And the final revelation in the story is just... perfect and just underscored all the folly in the plans that played out.
As ever, the introduction by Martin Edwards is engaging and informative and is the perfect preamble for what follows. I will continue with the Britsh Library Crime Classics and look forward to getting to more by Lorac (or Carnac or Rivett).
Recommended.
There are many characters introduced in the beginning and also a discussion of how one would kill another while concealing any connection. This is important to what proceeds in the story. In fact, much in the initial opening is relevant and speaks to Lorac's deft plotting. I was able to narrow down my main suspect early enough (because of the first thing they do that tips the first domino in this trap) but not the why or exactly how. I so enjoyed the puzzle and following along with Macdonald and his officers as bodies start turning up in grisly states and circumstances. That so many of the characters are missing and or lying at any given time made for some interesting revelations. Hidden relations, blackmail, secret passports, happenstance deaths that may not have been, inheritance, failed careers, love and malice. All here.
One of the wildest revelations is that one character had taken their hiding their Jewish ancestry to quite stunning a length all in aid of marrying a vocal and dedicated anti-Semite and another character was hoping no one told the anti-Semite before the marriage can occur. A straight-up trash character and one just about no one could stand and my sympathies lay with the character still enamoured of them to the end. There are several instances of an ethnic slur referring to people of southern European extraction used throughout that I found offensive and grating but it does track with the type of characters here using it casually at the time.
In the end, the killer is caught in a tense pursuit that I can only wonder is a hallmark of Lorac as it was reminiscent of how Crossed Skis resolved. Much page-turning action! Macdonald relates the details to a character who winds up being a protagonist but whom I never warmed to as he's a bit obsessed with marrying a young woman he's afraid if he has to wait until she's twenty-one, will be so "grown" she'll decide she would not want to marry him after all. It's not an endearing quality of a suitor to this woman reader so... meh on that guy getting what he wants in the end. And the final revelation in the story is just... perfect and just underscored all the folly in the plans that played out.
As ever, the introduction by Martin Edwards is engaging and informative and is the perfect preamble for what follows. I will continue with the Britsh Library Crime Classics and look forward to getting to more by Lorac (or Carnac or Rivett).
Recommended.
August 22, 2020
This is exactly the wonderfully crazy murder mystery you'd expect from the title! Lorac has a huge amount of fun throwing in various tropes of the genre (how to get rid of a corpse, mysterious identities, blackmail, did the butler do it?) and comes up with an eccentric cast and a creepy locale all brought down to earth by Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard. Never a dull moment in this one!
September 2, 2020
I've been discovering recently some of the forgotten detective mysteries of the "golden age". Bats in the Belfry is yet another one of this lot. Although it is part of a series, I could only find four of them, and this one is the "first" in the series out of those four.
Set in London, E.C.R. Lorac brings us a mystery surrounding the disappearance and ultimate murder of a once successful author. Suspicion falls everywhere - on his dissatisfied wife, her lover, a blackmailer who is said to have been troubling him, and on the journalist friend who is angry at being denied marriage to his ward.
This is a pretty sinister tale with a mutilated body of the disappeared appearing in the Belfry and the dead body of the suspected blackmailer being fished up from the Thames. The story also takes the readers through some of the darker places in London and makes them witness the actions of a darker minded clever criminal.
The whole story is quite intriguing and the character diversity is very interesting. A steady pace and suspense were kept throughout with several twists and turns. There were clues and enough of red herrings to keep the readers engaged in the guessing game. I figured the criminal and the motive before it was revealed which I felt great. :) It was one of the handful numbers of times I did in a murder-mystery story.
The protagonist, Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, is promising to be an interesting character. He is intelligent, patient, and methodical. This is the first time in a series that I came across a Scottish detective and I welcomed the novelty.
However, what I enjoyed most was E.C.R. Lorac, the author. Her writing is brilliant. This was a dark and a sinister tale but the gravity was so much lessened by her wit and humour. I had such a fun time reading the story, laughing my heart out at times.
Overall, I enjoyed my first reading of E.C.R. Lorac. Having read a fair number of detective fiction, I've grown fastidious with my ratings. But she is promising and I'm quite eager to follow her through the rest.
Set in London, E.C.R. Lorac brings us a mystery surrounding the disappearance and ultimate murder of a once successful author. Suspicion falls everywhere - on his dissatisfied wife, her lover, a blackmailer who is said to have been troubling him, and on the journalist friend who is angry at being denied marriage to his ward.
This is a pretty sinister tale with a mutilated body of the disappeared appearing in the Belfry and the dead body of the suspected blackmailer being fished up from the Thames. The story also takes the readers through some of the darker places in London and makes them witness the actions of a darker minded clever criminal.
The whole story is quite intriguing and the character diversity is very interesting. A steady pace and suspense were kept throughout with several twists and turns. There were clues and enough of red herrings to keep the readers engaged in the guessing game. I figured the criminal and the motive before it was revealed which I felt great. :) It was one of the handful numbers of times I did in a murder-mystery story.
The protagonist, Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, is promising to be an interesting character. He is intelligent, patient, and methodical. This is the first time in a series that I came across a Scottish detective and I welcomed the novelty.
However, what I enjoyed most was E.C.R. Lorac, the author. Her writing is brilliant. This was a dark and a sinister tale but the gravity was so much lessened by her wit and humour. I had such a fun time reading the story, laughing my heart out at times.
Overall, I enjoyed my first reading of E.C.R. Lorac. Having read a fair number of detective fiction, I've grown fastidious with my ratings. But she is promising and I'm quite eager to follow her through the rest.
September 25, 2020
9/2020: Really enjoyed rereading this intricate, complicated whodunnit - I remembered who the killer was, but couldn’t remember the details. I was struck also by the dry humor - I’ve read several Lorac books with Macdonald investigating, and I always enjoy his wry, laidback personality, but I enjoyed seeing his humorous interactions with a young, rambunctious suspect, his fellow officers, even a doctor at the hospital.
6/2019: This is the third ECR Lorac Golden Age mystery I’ve read, and she is becoming one of my favorite authors.
I very much enjoy the wry humor, intelligence and dogged determination of her detective, Scotland Yard Inspector Macdonald. This British Library Crimes Classics reissue of the book, originally written in 1937, refers to it as “a hidden gem” that aroused little interest, “either on first publication or subsequently, despite its quality.” The introduction goes on to note that the plot and evocative portrayal of 1930s London lift it above the ordinary.
I wholeheartedly agree; from the opening scene in a stylish, cozy London drawing room where a sophisticated group of soon-to-be suspects discuss the knotty problem of disposing of a mythical corpse, to a creepy Notting Hill studio called the Belfry, or the Morgue to the locals, to a climactic chase through London traffic as Macdonald finally closes in on the murderer, London itself plays an important role in the mystery.
Lorac obviously knew London, as does her Inspector Macdonald - the tucked-away neighborhoods, the riverside docks, the little-known architectural gems left over from previous eras, even the iconic weather - Lorac uses them all to bring the city to life. I’ve never been to London, but her books make it easy to imagine the freezing sleet on the isolated docks, the penetrating misty fog that distorts sounds and light, leaving walkers feeling isolated, yet unsure whether they are alone, or being followed and overheard...
The murder in this one is particularly gruesome - a man goes missing, but his suitcase and passport are found in the decrepit artist’s studio called the Belfry - eventually his headless, handless body is found on the premises. Inspector Macdonald must dig up all the secrets of the dead man to unlock the elaborate scheme behind his murder. The plot is complex, involving blackmail, infidelity, long-lost relatives, a large inheritance, and some sophisticated and cynical characters.
That’s another thing I really enjoy about this author, the realistic, low-key portrayal of the grind of police investigations - no big summing up before the assembled cast at the end, or pulling surprise witnesses or leads out of thin air - the scene where Macdonald and his team take apart the filthy Belfry studio looking for the victim’s remains made it clear how difficult, dirty and tedious police work can be. Lorac also has the ability to shift suspicion around her characters while keeping the plot moving along convincingly, which I really appreciate.
I hope her books will continue to be reissued, I enjoy them very much.
6/2019: This is the third ECR Lorac Golden Age mystery I’ve read, and she is becoming one of my favorite authors.
I very much enjoy the wry humor, intelligence and dogged determination of her detective, Scotland Yard Inspector Macdonald. This British Library Crimes Classics reissue of the book, originally written in 1937, refers to it as “a hidden gem” that aroused little interest, “either on first publication or subsequently, despite its quality.” The introduction goes on to note that the plot and evocative portrayal of 1930s London lift it above the ordinary.
I wholeheartedly agree; from the opening scene in a stylish, cozy London drawing room where a sophisticated group of soon-to-be suspects discuss the knotty problem of disposing of a mythical corpse, to a creepy Notting Hill studio called the Belfry, or the Morgue to the locals, to a climactic chase through London traffic as Macdonald finally closes in on the murderer, London itself plays an important role in the mystery.
Lorac obviously knew London, as does her Inspector Macdonald - the tucked-away neighborhoods, the riverside docks, the little-known architectural gems left over from previous eras, even the iconic weather - Lorac uses them all to bring the city to life. I’ve never been to London, but her books make it easy to imagine the freezing sleet on the isolated docks, the penetrating misty fog that distorts sounds and light, leaving walkers feeling isolated, yet unsure whether they are alone, or being followed and overheard...
The murder in this one is particularly gruesome - a man goes missing, but his suitcase and passport are found in the decrepit artist’s studio called the Belfry - eventually his headless, handless body is found on the premises. Inspector Macdonald must dig up all the secrets of the dead man to unlock the elaborate scheme behind his murder. The plot is complex, involving blackmail, infidelity, long-lost relatives, a large inheritance, and some sophisticated and cynical characters.
That’s another thing I really enjoy about this author, the realistic, low-key portrayal of the grind of police investigations - no big summing up before the assembled cast at the end, or pulling surprise witnesses or leads out of thin air - the scene where Macdonald and his team take apart the filthy Belfry studio looking for the victim’s remains made it clear how difficult, dirty and tedious police work can be. Lorac also has the ability to shift suspicion around her characters while keeping the plot moving along convincingly, which I really appreciate.
I hope her books will continue to be reissued, I enjoy them very much.
September 17, 2020
Having read, and enjoyed, “Fell Murder,” I was keen to read more by E.C.R. Lorac, pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett. Normally, I would only read a series in order, but, as not all of the author’s work has been re-published, I have made an exception. This is an earlier mystery than, “Fell Murder,” published in 1937. According to Martin Edwards, who so often writes excellent introductions to these re-published, Golden Age, novels, this particular mystery was not a great success when it was first published, which is a surprise.
The novel opens with a group of people discussing, of course, murder. Or, to be precise, how to rid yourself of a body. Our drawing room suspects are Bruce Attleton, his actress wife, Sybilla, his ward, Elizabeth Leigh, Robert Grenville, who wants to marry Elizabeth, Neil Rockingham, a friend of Bruce, and Thomas Burroughs, a special friend of Sybilla…
When Bruce Attleton leave for a trip to Paris, he vanishes completely Rockingham seems to be the only one concerned and he joins forces with Grenville to try to find out where he is. Clues, including a strange man who has been contacting Attleton, lead to a studio; known locally as ‘the Belfry,’ or ‘the Morgue.’ Inside a body is discovered, minus head and hands.
This mystery has an intricate plot and London is almost a character in itself. As a Londoner myself, I was unsurprised to read that the traffic was terrible, even back in the 1930’s. I am not sure what she would think, if she saw it now, but I am pleased that her view of the city, and her novels, are back in print. I hope that more of her books become available, as she writes excellent Golden Age crime novels.
The novel opens with a group of people discussing, of course, murder. Or, to be precise, how to rid yourself of a body. Our drawing room suspects are Bruce Attleton, his actress wife, Sybilla, his ward, Elizabeth Leigh, Robert Grenville, who wants to marry Elizabeth, Neil Rockingham, a friend of Bruce, and Thomas Burroughs, a special friend of Sybilla…
When Bruce Attleton leave for a trip to Paris, he vanishes completely Rockingham seems to be the only one concerned and he joins forces with Grenville to try to find out where he is. Clues, including a strange man who has been contacting Attleton, lead to a studio; known locally as ‘the Belfry,’ or ‘the Morgue.’ Inside a body is discovered, minus head and hands.
This mystery has an intricate plot and London is almost a character in itself. As a Londoner myself, I was unsurprised to read that the traffic was terrible, even back in the 1930’s. I am not sure what she would think, if she saw it now, but I am pleased that her view of the city, and her novels, are back in print. I hope that more of her books become available, as she writes excellent Golden Age crime novels.
April 28, 2018
A new ' forgotten' golden age detective writer to add to my growing list! She writes very well and creates a wonderful sense of 1930's London. The plot is very far-fetched but that is fine, a lot of detective stories are. There are humorous touches- the butler being called Samuel Weller made me smile. The thing that let it down for me slightly were the characters. They were a little underdrawn, as was the detective. I do hope the British Library release more of Lorac's books, I would definitely read them.
March 20, 2018
Starring MacDonald of the Yard...
When Bruce Attleton doesn't turn up in Paris as planned, his friend Neil Rockingham begins to worry. A strange man called Debrette had been harrassing Attleton, so Rockingham sets another friend, young Robert Grenville, the task of tracking Debrette down. Things take a sinister turn when Grenville finds Attleton's suticase, complete with passport, in the cellar of the Belfry – an old building where Debrette had been living until very recently. Time to bring in Inspector MacDonald of the Yard...
This is an excellent early example of the police procedural novel, mixed with just enough amateur detection from young Grenville to make it fun and to keep the authentic Golden Age feel. Grenville plays a very minor second fiddle to the professional Inspector MacDonald though, and the police methods throughout have a feeling of authenticity that is rare in my experience of early crime fiction. MacDonald doesn't work alone – he heads a team, all allocated with different tasks and responsibilities suited to their rank, and we get a clear picture of the painstaking detection that lies behind MacDonald's brilliance.
The plot is nicely convoluted, involving murder, possible blackmail, secrets within families, a bit of adultery, and a solution that I only got to about five pages before MacDonald revealed all. MacDonald does, at one point, make a rather unbelievable leap of intuition, but for the most part the mystery is solved by conscientious fact-checking of alibis and identities, following suspects and making good use of forensic evidence.
The book is based in London – one of my favourite locations for crime novels – and Lorac is wonderfully descriptive in her writing, especially in the way she highlights the ancient and modern jostling side by side in the city, with short alleys leading from offices and factories to quiet little residential squares that seem unchanged by the passing centuries. The Belfry itself is a spooky place and Lorac gets in some nice little touches of horror to tingle the reader's spine. It's written in the third person past tense. Back in the Golden Age, most crime authors wrote well, but Lorac's writing impressed me more than most, often having quite a literary feel without ever becoming pretentious.
As with a lot of Golden Age fiction, there's a romantic sub-plot – young Grenville is in love with Elizabeth, Attleton's ward. They are both fun characters – Grenville is headstrong and occasionally foolish, always putting himself in danger and often paying the price for it, while Elizabeth is a modern girl, living in her club and with a mind and a will of her own. They give the reader someone to root for amidst the rest of the other rather unpleasant characters who are assembled as victims, suspects or both. Being modern young people, they talk in a kind of slang not far removed from how Wodehouse characters speak, and this adds a nice element of humour, keeping the overall tone light. MacDonald is no slouch in the slang department too, and I loved how Lorac gave each of the major characters such distinctive voices and personalities.
I can't begin to imagine why a book as good as this one would ever have been allowed to become “forgotten”. The British Library Crime Classics can be a bit variable in quality, but it's finding these occasional little gems among them that makes the series so enjoyable. One of their best.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, British Library.
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When Bruce Attleton doesn't turn up in Paris as planned, his friend Neil Rockingham begins to worry. A strange man called Debrette had been harrassing Attleton, so Rockingham sets another friend, young Robert Grenville, the task of tracking Debrette down. Things take a sinister turn when Grenville finds Attleton's suticase, complete with passport, in the cellar of the Belfry – an old building where Debrette had been living until very recently. Time to bring in Inspector MacDonald of the Yard...
This is an excellent early example of the police procedural novel, mixed with just enough amateur detection from young Grenville to make it fun and to keep the authentic Golden Age feel. Grenville plays a very minor second fiddle to the professional Inspector MacDonald though, and the police methods throughout have a feeling of authenticity that is rare in my experience of early crime fiction. MacDonald doesn't work alone – he heads a team, all allocated with different tasks and responsibilities suited to their rank, and we get a clear picture of the painstaking detection that lies behind MacDonald's brilliance.
The plot is nicely convoluted, involving murder, possible blackmail, secrets within families, a bit of adultery, and a solution that I only got to about five pages before MacDonald revealed all. MacDonald does, at one point, make a rather unbelievable leap of intuition, but for the most part the mystery is solved by conscientious fact-checking of alibis and identities, following suspects and making good use of forensic evidence.
The book is based in London – one of my favourite locations for crime novels – and Lorac is wonderfully descriptive in her writing, especially in the way she highlights the ancient and modern jostling side by side in the city, with short alleys leading from offices and factories to quiet little residential squares that seem unchanged by the passing centuries. The Belfry itself is a spooky place and Lorac gets in some nice little touches of horror to tingle the reader's spine. It's written in the third person past tense. Back in the Golden Age, most crime authors wrote well, but Lorac's writing impressed me more than most, often having quite a literary feel without ever becoming pretentious.
As with a lot of Golden Age fiction, there's a romantic sub-plot – young Grenville is in love with Elizabeth, Attleton's ward. They are both fun characters – Grenville is headstrong and occasionally foolish, always putting himself in danger and often paying the price for it, while Elizabeth is a modern girl, living in her club and with a mind and a will of her own. They give the reader someone to root for amidst the rest of the other rather unpleasant characters who are assembled as victims, suspects or both. Being modern young people, they talk in a kind of slang not far removed from how Wodehouse characters speak, and this adds a nice element of humour, keeping the overall tone light. MacDonald is no slouch in the slang department too, and I loved how Lorac gave each of the major characters such distinctive voices and personalities.
I can't begin to imagine why a book as good as this one would ever have been allowed to become “forgotten”. The British Library Crime Classics can be a bit variable in quality, but it's finding these occasional little gems among them that makes the series so enjoyable. One of their best.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
October 13, 2019
Bruce Attleton produced two best-selling novels, but he’s had little luck since. That luck gets even worse when he vanishes when he was supposed to be on a trip to Paris. What has happened to him? And when someone else dies, is Bruce the victim? Or a perpetrator?
While Bats in the Belfry is 13th book in E.C.R. Lorac’s series featuring Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, these novels can be read in any order, and newbies won’t have any trouble with it. The no-nonsense MacDonald suspects everyone in Attleton’s circle — including Attleton himself. Even so, I was taken by surprise by the novel’s ending.
While the plot was a bit overly complicated, I’ve loved all of the Lorac novels I’ve read so far, and this one was no exception. I can’t wait for British Library and Poisoned Pen Press to rerelease the next novel!
While Bats in the Belfry is 13th book in E.C.R. Lorac’s series featuring Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, these novels can be read in any order, and newbies won’t have any trouble with it. The no-nonsense MacDonald suspects everyone in Attleton’s circle — including Attleton himself. Even so, I was taken by surprise by the novel’s ending.
While the plot was a bit overly complicated, I’ve loved all of the Lorac novels I’ve read so far, and this one was no exception. I can’t wait for British Library and Poisoned Pen Press to rerelease the next novel!
September 18, 2019
Dame Agatha Christie and Her Peers
Book 8
E.C.R. Lorac is Edith Caroline Rivett but at the time (1937) many women writers preferred to present themselves as men. That makes no sense to me for this "cozy-who-did-it"genre: Agatha Christie owned it from 1920 to her passing in 1976 (and still does, imo). A huge thanks to "Poisoned Pen Press" (Scottsdale, Arizona) for this 2018 reprint.
CAST = 4 stars: Bruce Attleton swills whiskey, is a "nervy blighter", and his heir to Adam Marsham who is sometimes referred to as "Old Soldier." Sybilla Attleton is "an exquisite figure" and an actress and may have all the household money. Neil Rockingham is a playwright but needs to sell a new one fast to keep up his lifestyle. Elizabeth/Liz Leigh is a young beauty and her guardian is Attleton. Thomas Burroughs is handsome and stout and rich and has his eye on Sybilla. Robert Greenville is head over heals in love with Liz and has a plan to get Attleton to approve their marriage. Debrette is a mysterious character, Weller a butler, and Anthony Fell is a distant family member who 'turned up' from Australia then died in a car wreck when the brakes go bad. (The Tichnor case, which rocked England in the 1800s, often appears in this genre: a man had returned from Australia and had perhaps assumed an identity.) Lorac, here, might be throwing out a red herring....or not. This is a rather small cast of ten but they certainly keep Chief Inspector MacDonald busy. I like very much that it's relatively easy to keep track of the cast, even when Lorac plays around with 'secret identities.'
ATMOSPHERE - 4: Most of the action takes place in these character's upper class town homes and country manors. But there is an old, creepy, odd building built by some kind of ancient religious sect that is full of secrets. It's a very unusual place: not really a church, nor any kind of public building, and is often rented to artists. Yes, of course, there are bats in the belfry. And stuff best left behind plastered and hidden panels. Plus fog and rain and London at its creepiest. The back cover tells us this story is 'set in a superbly evoked London of the 1930s.' Agreed, just lovely.
PLOT - 3: The story begins with Fell's funeral. Bruce disappears, MacDonald is on the hunt. But Burroughs and Sybilla are also missing: are they together for a lover's tryst? But the big question is the identity of Debrette, even though a murder does occur about 1/3rd of the way through. This one is easy to figure out: I knew almost everything by page 75 (of 231). In this novel, the cast and atmosphere rule.
INVESTIGATION - 3: MacDonald will not give up, even when the "PTBs" (Powers That Be) are satisfied with a solution. There is something wrong. For example, why does Debrette insist on keeping a large dark beard with a white stripe that can be easily seen and identifiable? (You know the answer if you've read any amount of novels in this genre.)
SOLUTION - 2: I simply found this too easy to figure out and I felt like I was way ahead of MacDonald.
SUMMARY - 3.2. I enjoyed the cast and atmosphere very much. The plot is fine, Lorac seems to have fun writing this. This is a good 'cozy' for a rainy afternoon. My library system has just one book by this author and it's a new publication from the "British Library Crime Classics". I hope to see more of these republications of English writers who sort of disappeared from the shelves of libraries and bookstores.
Book 8
E.C.R. Lorac is Edith Caroline Rivett but at the time (1937) many women writers preferred to present themselves as men. That makes no sense to me for this "cozy-who-did-it"genre: Agatha Christie owned it from 1920 to her passing in 1976 (and still does, imo). A huge thanks to "Poisoned Pen Press" (Scottsdale, Arizona) for this 2018 reprint.
CAST = 4 stars: Bruce Attleton swills whiskey, is a "nervy blighter", and his heir to Adam Marsham who is sometimes referred to as "Old Soldier." Sybilla Attleton is "an exquisite figure" and an actress and may have all the household money. Neil Rockingham is a playwright but needs to sell a new one fast to keep up his lifestyle. Elizabeth/Liz Leigh is a young beauty and her guardian is Attleton. Thomas Burroughs is handsome and stout and rich and has his eye on Sybilla. Robert Greenville is head over heals in love with Liz and has a plan to get Attleton to approve their marriage. Debrette is a mysterious character, Weller a butler, and Anthony Fell is a distant family member who 'turned up' from Australia then died in a car wreck when the brakes go bad. (The Tichnor case, which rocked England in the 1800s, often appears in this genre: a man had returned from Australia and had perhaps assumed an identity.) Lorac, here, might be throwing out a red herring....or not. This is a rather small cast of ten but they certainly keep Chief Inspector MacDonald busy. I like very much that it's relatively easy to keep track of the cast, even when Lorac plays around with 'secret identities.'
ATMOSPHERE - 4: Most of the action takes place in these character's upper class town homes and country manors. But there is an old, creepy, odd building built by some kind of ancient religious sect that is full of secrets. It's a very unusual place: not really a church, nor any kind of public building, and is often rented to artists. Yes, of course, there are bats in the belfry. And stuff best left behind plastered and hidden panels. Plus fog and rain and London at its creepiest. The back cover tells us this story is 'set in a superbly evoked London of the 1930s.' Agreed, just lovely.
PLOT - 3: The story begins with Fell's funeral. Bruce disappears, MacDonald is on the hunt. But Burroughs and Sybilla are also missing: are they together for a lover's tryst? But the big question is the identity of Debrette, even though a murder does occur about 1/3rd of the way through. This one is easy to figure out: I knew almost everything by page 75 (of 231). In this novel, the cast and atmosphere rule.
INVESTIGATION - 3: MacDonald will not give up, even when the "PTBs" (Powers That Be) are satisfied with a solution. There is something wrong. For example, why does Debrette insist on keeping a large dark beard with a white stripe that can be easily seen and identifiable? (You know the answer if you've read any amount of novels in this genre.)
SOLUTION - 2: I simply found this too easy to figure out and I felt like I was way ahead of MacDonald.
SUMMARY - 3.2. I enjoyed the cast and atmosphere very much. The plot is fine, Lorac seems to have fun writing this. This is a good 'cozy' for a rainy afternoon. My library system has just one book by this author and it's a new publication from the "British Library Crime Classics". I hope to see more of these republications of English writers who sort of disappeared from the shelves of libraries and bookstores.
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September 12, 2019Ingenious murder mystery with lots of red herrings. The style is fast and light and it's got great London atmosphere but overall rather suffered from the author explaining the plot (the policeman spends a lot of time reiterating the possible solutions). It also has a couple of nasty 30s attitudes inc a random bit of antisemitism on the part of a character so I wouldn't rush to it.
October 10, 2020
I think I enjoyed this more than the first E.C.R. Lorac I read just recently - Murder in Vienna. I am obviously not a reader-in-order person. I don't know if I would have come to know MacDonald any better by this 13th in the series if I were. I like him very much. He's single and not very gullible. He lets inconsistencies bother him so that he is persistent. Those being interviewed underestimate him. He is (mostly) open with colleagues, which is good, because then the reader gets the inside scoop on some of his thinking and theories.
With all of MacDonald's thinking and theories, I didn't have to try to solve the mystery myself. I was mostly just along for the ride. Good thing, because it's a complicated plot and even MacDonald had several possible suspects. Yes, mysteries are almost all plot, but I was ready for that. Only MacDonald is well characterized, but the others are believable enough. I think what I like most about Lorac is her writing style. I am thought neither to have scant education nor to have a dictionary handy. In this, there was a bit more of London street layout than I needed or wanted, but I've chosen to ignore that type of thing because I'm not familiar with US cities either. I refuse to be held back for such lack of familiarity!
I am happy to have recently picked up on the cheap a few others in the series and also to have seen that my library has a couple of titles as well. I can't say when I'll get to them, but just now I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later. Still, I can't rave enough about this one to have it leaping over the 3-/4-star line. It's definitely toward the top of 3-star group, though.
With all of MacDonald's thinking and theories, I didn't have to try to solve the mystery myself. I was mostly just along for the ride. Good thing, because it's a complicated plot and even MacDonald had several possible suspects. Yes, mysteries are almost all plot, but I was ready for that. Only MacDonald is well characterized, but the others are believable enough. I think what I like most about Lorac is her writing style. I am thought neither to have scant education nor to have a dictionary handy. In this, there was a bit more of London street layout than I needed or wanted, but I've chosen to ignore that type of thing because I'm not familiar with US cities either. I refuse to be held back for such lack of familiarity!
I am happy to have recently picked up on the cheap a few others in the series and also to have seen that my library has a couple of titles as well. I can't say when I'll get to them, but just now I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later. Still, I can't rave enough about this one to have it leaping over the 3-/4-star line. It's definitely toward the top of 3-star group, though.
July 19, 2018
There’s some great bits of atmosphere in here — the Belfry is genuinely creepy-sounding, and the foggy interludes too. It’s a fairly typically entangled plot for a Golden Age crime novel, featuring all kinds of motives and inheritances and missing heirs, but you get the clues to guess the culprit, and I found it fun to follow through. I also appreciated that the solution is arrived at mostly by solid routine police work, not wild leaps of intuition or luck.
Definitely good enough that I’m picking up another of Lorac’s works, even if most of the characters are pretty unlikeable. (The cold, hard, cheating wife who is an actress and doesn’t forgive her husband’s lack of success, bleh.) I wasn’t expecting miracles, and thus enjoyed it accordingly.
Reviewed for the Bibliophibian.
Definitely good enough that I’m picking up another of Lorac’s works, even if most of the characters are pretty unlikeable. (The cold, hard, cheating wife who is an actress and doesn’t forgive her husband’s lack of success, bleh.) I wasn’t expecting miracles, and thus enjoyed it accordingly.
Reviewed for the Bibliophibian.
July 15, 2020
4 strong stars for this very clever and very, very twisty mystery.
I am a big fan of Lorac's Inspector Macdonald--so methodical, so logical, so sharply intelligent. This time he is really put to the test. As the bodies start piling up Macdonald keeps trying to make sense of all the clues--to the point where he develops 5(!!) hypothetical solutions to the crimes. Macdonald's boss is all for going with the easiest solution, but Macdonald isn't happy with that, no sirree.
For once my sneaking suspicion of who dunnit was on the money. However, I was totally at sea over the 'Why" of the crimes.
The author is known for writing 'fair play' mysteries. All the clues are out in the open; it is up to the reader to recognize them and draw the correct conclusions.
I am having great fun reading these books and I hope that more of Lorac's mysteries will find their way to being reissued.
I am a big fan of Lorac's Inspector Macdonald--so methodical, so logical, so sharply intelligent. This time he is really put to the test. As the bodies start piling up Macdonald keeps trying to make sense of all the clues--to the point where he develops 5(!!) hypothetical solutions to the crimes. Macdonald's boss is all for going with the easiest solution, but Macdonald isn't happy with that, no sirree.
For once my sneaking suspicion of who dunnit was on the money. However, I was totally at sea over the 'Why" of the crimes.
The author is known for writing 'fair play' mysteries. All the clues are out in the open; it is up to the reader to recognize them and draw the correct conclusions.
I am having great fun reading these books and I hope that more of Lorac's mysteries will find their way to being reissued.
April 8, 2018
I had never read anything written by this author, but I know I will be trying more of her work. This was a nice mystery with several suspects, that kept me wondering. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, characters and plot.
January 18, 2020
Set in pre - WW II London, the book is a bit more than just a "cozy", which I generally don't care for. Recommend for the setting/atmosphere and well developed characters!
June 3, 2021
This was a poor mystery (the murderer was obvious from the strength of his alibi itself, and also because everyone else kept dying). However, there is a lovely twist in the end and the mystery seems realistic when it comes to the details of solving it. This makes me hopeful for her other books.
October 8, 2020
I am very fond of this author, recently discovered, but this story was not a favorite for me. It was competent enough but the plot had some improbabilities and I like her rural settings more than her urban ones.
Bats in the Belfry is set in London among a smart literary and theater set. The scene opens on a drawing room, where a disparate cast of characters essential to the plot are gathered, and the conversation turns on a parlor game: how would you get away with murder? Then a series of baffling disappearances begins, followed by assaults and murders, and Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is brought in to investigate.
Lorac is fond of setting scenes, and her bent for description gets a bit carried away here. Pretty much every character lives in a unique historical landmark, and their lovingly evoked domiciles started to take on a tinge of the twee after a while. In her book Fell Murder, the setting felt essential to the crime and detection, but here everything seemed a bit artificial to me, laid on for purposes of the plot. My greatest objection, however, can’t be revealed without spoiling:
Anyway, Lorac writes a strong, complex mystery, with evocative description, memorable characters, and strong dialogue. Her sleuth is a delightfully unruffled detective who holds his cards close and approaches his suspects with humanity. If this one wasn’t a favorite of mine, it was able enough.
Bats in the Belfry is set in London among a smart literary and theater set. The scene opens on a drawing room, where a disparate cast of characters essential to the plot are gathered, and the conversation turns on a parlor game: how would you get away with murder? Then a series of baffling disappearances begins, followed by assaults and murders, and Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is brought in to investigate.
Lorac is fond of setting scenes, and her bent for description gets a bit carried away here. Pretty much every character lives in a unique historical landmark, and their lovingly evoked domiciles started to take on a tinge of the twee after a while. In her book Fell Murder, the setting felt essential to the crime and detection, but here everything seemed a bit artificial to me, laid on for purposes of the plot. My greatest objection, however, can’t be revealed without spoiling:
Anyway, Lorac writes a strong, complex mystery, with evocative description, memorable characters, and strong dialogue. Her sleuth is a delightfully unruffled detective who holds his cards close and approaches his suspects with humanity. If this one wasn’t a favorite of mine, it was able enough.
October 25, 2020
Excellent GA murder mystery, just right for this time of year. I was leaning towards 5 stars right up until the last few chapters, but I found the solution to the mystery to be unsatisfying. Technically it could have been solved with the clues provided, but there were some vital pieces of information which were not revealed until the identity of the killer was named, and therefore it was not quite fair game. However, it had an intriguing plot, a clever detective, and characters so bad they are good. Rounding out at 4.5 stars.
October 25, 2020
This is the first E.C. Lorac book I've read and I certainly enjoyed it enough to try another one. I liked the London setting and the descriptions. My only disappointment was that I like to check the street names on a map and I was able to do that in general terms but when it came to specific locations, like the houses where the characters lived, the street names were fictitious so it made them hard to pin down. A small thing I know and it was otherwise very enjoyable.
March 10, 2018
This is quite a puzzle! I was only sure that the police were innocent! Lorac threw suspicion on everyone, even on the two people I refused to believe guilty no matter the efforts of the author to sully their characters. They were just too nice, but however reluctant I was to believe it, they just might be the murderers. Then again, it could be the despicable actress, her unfaithful husband, her lover, his blackmailer, his ward, the ward's lover, the friend, or even the butler. By the way, who was murdered? And why? Lorac created an incredibly complex tangle of motives and suspects. I started to suspect who was really guilty about three-quarters of the way through, but I wasn’t really sure.
The ending was a might rushed and melodramatic, and just a little bit unsatisfying. Maybe because it was so fast and wild, or because we never do figure out what happened to several of the main characters.
Unfortunately, the language isn’t very clean. Two of the main characters can’t seem to say two sentences without swearing. Thankfully there were large sections without their presence. It was still more than I like reading and I won’t be reading any more by this author, nor can I recommend it.
I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. No favorable review was required and these are my honest opinions.
The ending was a might rushed and melodramatic, and just a little bit unsatisfying. Maybe because it was so fast and wild, or because we never do figure out what happened to several of the main characters.
Unfortunately, the language isn’t very clean. Two of the main characters can’t seem to say two sentences without swearing. Thankfully there were large sections without their presence. It was still more than I like reading and I won’t be reading any more by this author, nor can I recommend it.
I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. No favorable review was required and these are my honest opinions.
October 23, 2020
Robert Macdonald:
*3 #13 Bats in the Belfry
TR #23 Death Came Softly
TR #26 Murder by Matchlight
TR #27 Fire in the Thatch
TR #34 Accident by Design
TR #37 Murder in the Mill-Race
*3 #13 Bats in the Belfry
TR #23 Death Came Softly
TR #26 Murder by Matchlight
TR #27 Fire in the Thatch
TR #34 Accident by Design
TR #37 Murder in the Mill-Race
June 13, 2018
Richard Grenville wants to marry Elizabeth, but her guardian, unsuccessful novelist Bruce Attleton, won't let her marry yet. Attleton has other problems, too, including an unfaithful wife and, apparently, a persistent blackmailer. When he fails to meet his good friend in Paris, Grenville is one of the people who tracks him to a mysterious old studio (with belfry) where his blackmailer has been seen. The discovery of Attleton's suitcase, complete with passport, in the coal cellar brings the police into the case, and puzzling discoveries abound. The book was written in the 1930's.
May 17, 2021
An earlier entry by Lorac in the Robert MacDonald series (why is it so difficult to find the beginning books in this series?!), it is probably to date one of my favorites.
As much as I love MacDonald’s cool logic and unrufflability(?), it’s kind of fun to see him lose his cool here on several occasions and snap at potential suspects who keep doing stupid things. MacDonald apparently can handle the machinations of murderers and their methodical ways, but idiocy sends him into paroxysms of sarcasm and snark.
As for the plot of this one….well…good luck. It’s hopelessly intricate, full of red herrings and McGuffins, and a panoply of of different characters all with seemingly different motives.
This is not to say it isn’t fun, all of Lorac’s mysteries featuring MacDonald are that and more, rather this one wasn’t written for normal people who aren’t playing 4 dimensional with their tiny brains (sadly I am firmly ensconced in this particular category). When the solution is revealed it kind of sort of makes sense but still I’m fairly sure I let out an audible “huh” when I put this one down for the last time.
Perhaps you are smarter than me (a low bar to be fair) and can figure this one out before the reveal. Even if you can’t, spending a few hours with MacDonald as he tramps around spooky basements in old gothic houses is still a nice way to spend the better part of a day.
As much as I love MacDonald’s cool logic and unrufflability(?), it’s kind of fun to see him lose his cool here on several occasions and snap at potential suspects who keep doing stupid things. MacDonald apparently can handle the machinations of murderers and their methodical ways, but idiocy sends him into paroxysms of sarcasm and snark.
As for the plot of this one….well…good luck. It’s hopelessly intricate, full of red herrings and McGuffins, and a panoply of of different characters all with seemingly different motives.
This is not to say it isn’t fun, all of Lorac’s mysteries featuring MacDonald are that and more, rather this one wasn’t written for normal people who aren’t playing 4 dimensional with their tiny brains (sadly I am firmly ensconced in this particular category). When the solution is revealed it kind of sort of makes sense but still I’m fairly sure I let out an audible “huh” when I put this one down for the last time.
Perhaps you are smarter than me (a low bar to be fair) and can figure this one out before the reveal. Even if you can’t, spending a few hours with MacDonald as he tramps around spooky basements in old gothic houses is still a nice way to spend the better part of a day.
October 18, 2025
This was one of the best in my opinion. Macdonald is shown, actually pondering things and testing theories.
April 4, 2018
I like detective stories myself, they make me laugh, whereas real crime isn’t funny.
An alternate title for this book could be PSA: Don’t solve your own crimes at home because it really drives that point home. Early in the book Greenville and Rockingham, two friends of the missing man, discover his suitcase with his passport. Rockingham immediately declares “I’m a law-abiding man, not one of those half-baked fools who think criminal investigation is the province of the amateur.” and demands that they call the police. After they do this and Inspector Macdonald is on the case he makes it clear that he wants “no Sherlocking around”. And while Greenville does at first do some Sherlocking, he soon discovers “that there wasn’t any glamour about a murder case in which you knew the parties involved.”
The author spends a lot of time patting herself on the shoulder and saying “Look how much more realistic my stories are than those of those other writers who let lords or old ladies with no police experience solve cases!” And yes, in real life amateurs shouldn’t try to solve cases on their own. The thing is, in real life, there are also far fewer murderers whose plan to get the inheritance quicker/rid of the unfaithful husband/rid of their lover’s inconvenient partner involves carefully planned quadruple-bluffs. But that’s exactly what the murderer in Bats in the Belfry does. And he does it well. The mystery is cleverly crafted and doesn’t require a ridiculous amount of coincidences to work. It’s a shame that this got overshadowed by the author’s condescending attitude.
Otherwise, Inspector Macdonald is a character that is interesting without sliding too much into the quirky-for-the-sake-of-quirkiness field. When he doesn’t complain about amateurs meddling in police-work he is quite funny and not some genius asshole who insults everyone who disagrees with him. But sadly, we don’t get to see too much of Macdonald in this book since a lot of the plot focusses on the people involved in the crime and they are at best bland and at worst annoying. It shows that Lorac was a very prolific writer who wrote several books per year. While the mystery is good and definitely not formulaic, the characters are rather one-dimensional.
ARC received from NetGalley
January 31, 2018
The opening to ‘Bats in the Belfry’ has to be one of the best openings I’ve read in this series – a family gather at a funeral and talk turns to murder and the best way to dispose of a body. An opening that instantly leads us to wonder who will be the victim and who will be the murderer. It also cleverly introduces us to all the main players in this mystery. In the space of a few pages the reader learns of the personalities and possible disputes that feature in the book.
Unlike the majority of ‘cosy crime’ this one is solved successfully by a policeman, Inspector MacDonald. Although initially we have two amateur sleuths – a journalist and an architect – for the most part the crime is solved by the trusted Scotland Yard. This book makes for a wonderful example of an early police procedural novel and reading one from 1937 is fascinating.
There is also a fantastic atmosphere in this book. The ‘Belfry Studio’ where the body is discovered missing a head and hands, is a tall, crumbling, gothic building, a place where you can sense evil lurking and a place that attracts all kinds of nefarious people. As the book is set in London, we are also treated to a brilliant passage where two characters are having a conversation surrounded by fog. You feel spooked as you read it, you don’t know who might be lurking and as the characters say ‘a fog’s no place to discuss odd doings.’
I enjoyed this book. I like the police procedural element and I loved the atmosphere. The discovery of the body and the way it is hidden is certainly a lot darker than most cosy crimes and that made the book for me.
Unlike the majority of ‘cosy crime’ this one is solved successfully by a policeman, Inspector MacDonald. Although initially we have two amateur sleuths – a journalist and an architect – for the most part the crime is solved by the trusted Scotland Yard. This book makes for a wonderful example of an early police procedural novel and reading one from 1937 is fascinating.
There is also a fantastic atmosphere in this book. The ‘Belfry Studio’ where the body is discovered missing a head and hands, is a tall, crumbling, gothic building, a place where you can sense evil lurking and a place that attracts all kinds of nefarious people. As the book is set in London, we are also treated to a brilliant passage where two characters are having a conversation surrounded by fog. You feel spooked as you read it, you don’t know who might be lurking and as the characters say ‘a fog’s no place to discuss odd doings.’
I enjoyed this book. I like the police procedural element and I loved the atmosphere. The discovery of the body and the way it is hidden is certainly a lot darker than most cosy crimes and that made the book for me.
May 26, 2022
The British Library Crime Classics line is such a wonderful way to find "new-to-me" authors to enjoy. Edith Caroline Rivett, writing under the pen-name E. C. R. Lorac, was a contemporary of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Bats in the Belfry was my introduction to her work. The mystery was very well written and the cast of characters were perfectly dreadful. At one point, I think I could have envisioned any of them being the murderer. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
The stage is set with an opening scene where a group of people have gathered together following a funeral. While no one seems overly broken up over the death, the group chats back and forth until one brings up murder, specifically what each of them would do if they ever committed murder and hoped to get away with it. Most of the characters speculate how they would be rid of the body. As the group disperses, the reader foresees murder in the future with no idea who the victim or the murderer will be. The way the story played out was quite interesting. At first, we weren't even sure if there was a murder or if someone was up to some other mischief. I highly recommend this one, especially to fans of the Golden Age of Crime fiction.
The stage is set with an opening scene where a group of people have gathered together following a funeral. While no one seems overly broken up over the death, the group chats back and forth until one brings up murder, specifically what each of them would do if they ever committed murder and hoped to get away with it. Most of the characters speculate how they would be rid of the body. As the group disperses, the reader foresees murder in the future with no idea who the victim or the murderer will be. The way the story played out was quite interesting. At first, we weren't even sure if there was a murder or if someone was up to some other mischief. I highly recommend this one, especially to fans of the Golden Age of Crime fiction.
March 9, 2018
E.C.R. Lorac’s Bats in the Belfry:A London Mystery was written during the ‘golden age’ of British crime fiction in the 1930s. Loving London as I do, I thought this mystery would be intriguing to read, and I was not wrong. I must admit that I did not figure out who the murderer was! Ms. Lorac’s writing was beautifully descriptive and atmospheric. Spooky is another tern that fits this book. The characters in many ways appeared to be a bunch of misfits, but they except one were all friends with one having a female ward. What a collection of people! I really liked the Chief Inspector. I liked him more than any of the other characters. This mystery among others are published by British Library Crime Classics, and classic this one is. If you like classic British mysteries, maybe you might give this one a go!
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