Oct 23: Shroud of Darkness by ECR Lorac (1954)

[Susan]

Welcome to our Oct 23 challenge read of Shroud of Darkness Book 40 in the Robert Macdonald series first published in 1954.

They were five strangers on a fogbound train--a psychiatrist's pretty secretary, an agitated young man, a tweedy lady with a deep voice, a stockbrockerish businessman, and an eel-like "spiv." One was brutally attacked in the choking black fog in Paddington Station. Attempted murder results in an examination of the intimate lives of the passengers involved Chief Inspector MacDonald in a macabre game of hide-and-seek in which one man tried to find his identity and another was ready to kill to preserve the shroud of darkness that obscured his.

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

[Judy]

Just opening up our new challenge read, by E.C.R. Lorac, a writer who is very popular with group members. Who is reading this one? I've started it and am enjoying the atmospheric portrayal of a fogbound London.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Sandy]

I am about halfway through and, as always, like MacDonald, his kindness and professionalism. The plot is engaging and the atmosphere threatening.

[Michaela]

I´ll definitely read this, but haven´t started yet.

[Susan in NC]

I enjoyed this very much - I like Macdonald’s personality (professional, respectful with suspects, witnesses and subordinates, dry humor, innate decency), and the interplay with other members of his team. Great atmosphere, with the fog - I can’t imagine living through one of these, I’ve had them referred to in several mysteries of the period. This one, though, made me realize it actually dirtied your face, your clothes, got in your lungs!

[Susan]

Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City is a good read for anyone interested in the London fogs.

In winter 1952, London automobiles and thousands of coal-burning hearths belched particulate matter into the air. But the smog that descended on December 5th of 1952 was different; it was a type that held the city hostage for five long days. Mass transit ground to a halt, criminals roamed the streets, and 12,000 people died. That same month, there was another killer at large in London: John Reginald Christie, who murdered at least six women. In a braided narrative that draws on extensive interviews, never-before-published material, and archival research, Dawson captivatingly recounts the intersecting stories of the these two killers and their longstanding impact on modern history.

[Judy]

Very interesting, Susan, thank you! I just remembered that we read a book set in the London fog by Christianna Brand a few years ago - Fog of Doubt which was originally called London Particular. I've just looked up that book and I see it was actually published in 1952, so it must have been very topical when the huge smog broke out after its publication.

[Frances]

I've just finished this one in the last week or so and really enjoyed it! I am joining the ranks of members who are big fans of Lorac and hope to read more of her.

[Susan]

Me too, Frances. I have enjoyed everything we have read by her so far.

[Susan in NC]

Thanks for this title, Susan, very intriguing! Makes me think of The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.

[Carol]

Just finished this one. I loved it! I wish more of Lorac's books were available in the USA. She also wrote under the pseudonym Carol Carnac, but I haven't been able to find any of those books.

[Lady Clementina]

I read this last year and really enjoyed it. The characters, plot and writing were all excellent as was the atmosphere,

[Judy]

Carol, one of the Carol Carnac books has been reissued by British Library, Crossed Skis - there are also Poisoned Pen US editions listed on Goodreads, so hopefully it may be available for you? I thought it was one of the best books by Lorac that I've read so far.

[Carol]

Thanks, Judy. I've seen audios of Crossed Skis, but I don't use them. I have a mild auditory disability that makes them too hard to follow. I'm trying to find a print copy. I didn't know about the Poisoned Pen editions. I'll have to look for them.

[Lady Clementina]

Judy wrote: "Carol, one of the Carol Carnac books has been reissued by British Library, Crossed Skis - there are also Poisoned Pen US editions listed on Goodreads, so hopefully it may be availab..."

That sounds a good one. I have Crook O Lune by her waiting on my TBR as well (also a BLCC title)

[Susan in NC]

I have that one to look forward to, and Death of an Author as well. Apparently not a Macdonald or Inspector Julian Rivers (her detective when she wrote as Carnac) case, two new detectives in the blurb - Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard. I’ll be curious to see what they’re like.

[Carissa]

I was really struck by the description of the fog as well! I've never experienced a fog like that, where you're afraid to even walk down the street!

[Keith]

I well remember UK fogs where, in a bus with both a driver and a conductor selling tickets, the conductor had to walk in the gutter with a torch and the bus following in his footsteps. There was one occasion when the bus arrived at its garage and turned off the road into the building, it was accompanied by a line of cars which had been following behind the bus. That took a bit of sorting out!

I have driven, on my motorcycle, in fogs so thick that, as I passed a dotted line along the middle of the road, I could just make out the start of the next piece of the line maybe a metre or less away. That was back in the 1950s in Nottingham in the north Midlands. I had a good foglight set very low down on the safety bars and set slightly ahead of the bike.

[Carissa]

Keith wrote: "I well remember UK fogs where, in a bus with both a driver and a conductor selling tickets, the conductor had to walk in the gutter with a torch and the bus following in his footsteps. There was on..."

I love hearing your memories of the UK in the 1940s and 50s, Keith! That fog sounds really frightening!

My worst fog experience was driving through the mountains in the American west. I didn't realize how bad the fog was until I was in the mountains (I could maybe see 20 feet ahead of me), and then there was nowhere to turn off. You'd better believe I was praying I didn't drive over the side and was gripping the steering wheel for dear life!

[Keith]

If I'd have had 20 feet visibility, that was reasonably easy to cope with. Car drivers had to look through a windscreen and the bonnet (your hood) would be in the way. I was on a motorcycle, no windscreen and the only helmet available was an ACU approved racing helmet (look at the old 1950s bike races) and I wore a pair of RAF flying goggles but not in fog,. I had the best riding gear available, a Barbour suit, no body armour and many bikers wore a flat cap!. Those were the days!