E. C. R. Lorac Livres

Despite some suspicions from the family, the verdict at the inquest is suicide - but when Ruth's brother Richard receives a letter from the deceased which was delayed in the post, he enlists the help of CID Robert Macdonald to investigate what could only be an ingeniously planned murder.

"Renowned for its authentic characters and settings based partly on the author's own experiences of life in the Lune Valley, E. C. R. Lorac's classic rural mystery returns to print for the first time since 1953. This edition includes an introduction by award-winning author Martin Edwards. "I'm minded of the way a fire spreads in dry bracken when we burn it off the fellside: tongues of flame this way and that-tis human tongues and words that's creeping like flames in brushwood." It all began up at High Gimmerdale with the sheep-stealing, a hateful act in the shepherding fells above the bend in the Lune River-the Crook o' Lune. Then came the fire at Aikengill house and with the leaping of the flames, death, disorder, and dangerous gossip came to the quiet moorlands. Visiting his friends, the Hoggetts, while searching for some farmland to buy up ahead of his retirement, Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald's trip becomes a busman's holiday when he is drawn to investigate the deadly blaze and the deep-rooted motives behind the rising spate of crimes"-- Provided by publisher

Drawing on her own experience living in Lunesdale, Lorac spins a tale portraying the natural beauty, cosy quiet and more brutal elements of country living in this classic rural mystery first published in 1953.

Set against the backdrop of post-war Vienna, this classic mystery features Inspector McDonald as he navigates a city under Allied occupation during his holiday. The story intertwines intrigue and suspense, highlighting the challenges of the era while McDonald uncovers hidden truths. Originally published in 1956, it has now been revived as part of the British Library Crime Classics series, offering readers a glimpse into a unique historical context infused with crime and investigation.

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "Never make trouble in the village" is an unspoken law, but it's a binding law. You may know about your neighbor's sins and shortcomings, but you must never name them aloud. It'd make trouble, and small societies want to avoid trouble." When Dr Raymond Ferens moves to a practice at Milham in the Moor in North Devon, he and his wife are enchanted with the beautiful hilltop village lying so close to moor and sky. At first, they see only its charm, but soon they begin to uncover its secrets--envy, hatred, and malice. Everyone says that Sister Monica, warden of a children's home, is a saint--but is she? A few months after the Ferens' arrival her body is found drowned in the mill-race. Chief Inspector Macdonald faces one of his most difficult cases in a village determined not to betray its dark secrets to a stranger.

On a foggy night in London, a party has gathered in an artist's studio during the wartime blackout. When the brutal murder of the miser next door is discovered by his infantryman nephew, it's not long before Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is at the scene, untangling alibis from the studio party and with the fate of the soldier in his hands.

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

"Originally published in 1945 by Collins. "Permanent Policeman" was first published in MacKill's Mystery Magazine, March 1953"--Title page verso.

The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Little Thatch - a thatched cottage in the Devon countryside. When Little Thatch is destroyed in a blaze, all Vaughan's work goes up in smoke - and Inspector Macdonald is drafted in to uncover a motive for murder.