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I have enjoyed all of E. C. R. Lorac’s books so far and Crook O’ Lune was no exception. Chief Inspector Macdonald is visiting friends and considering whether to buy a farm. Of course, he quickly becomes involved in a mystery. There is sheep stealing, arson, a dead body, and lots of gossip.
I particularly like Lorac’s descriptions of the countryside. Reading her books inspires a desire to hop on a plane and travel to England. To be honest, I pretty much always want to hop on a plane and travel to England. Here is one description of a character driving up into the hills.
It was a glorious spring evening, the sun still gilding the crests of the high fells, though the valley was already in shadows. At first, the steep narrow road ran between hedgerows in which the first blackthorn was spreading a mist of white, and the willow catkins were blobs of gold, but after a couple of miles the hedgerows gave way to dry-stone walls, the arable land dropped behind and the road rose even more steeply to the open fellside. There was a cattle grid across the road at the top of the hill, in addition to the gate which used to bar the road: stone walls ran to right and left as far as the eye could see, dividing the cultivated land from the rough sheep pasture. Once his car had bumped over the cattle grid, Woolfall delighted in the unfenced road, in the grand sweep of fell which stretched away unbroken, ridge beyond ridge of moorland, to the great dome of blue sky overhead. He drove on until he reached a level stretch and a firm piece of turf where he could pull the car off the narrow road, and then he got out and strolled over the rough ground to an outcrop of rock from whose topmost ridge he could see the stone-flagged roofs and the wind-clipped trees of High Gimmerdale, tucked away below, all unsuspected, in a fold of the high fells.
Crook O’ Lune was a satisfying mystery full of great descriptions and a real sense of place. I believe several of the characters have appeared in Lorac’s other mysteries.
As soon as I finished one British Library Crime Classic I moved on to another. The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr was an equally satisfying book. A high street shop is the source of poisoned chocolates that end up killing a child. No one is sure how the chocolates were poisoned and who is responsible though accusations are flying everywhere. Marjorie Wills is being blamed by many of the inhabitants of the town and her Uncle, Marcus Chesney, wants to get to the bottom of the problem. He is convinced that everyone wears “black spectacles” that prevent them from accurately seeing and understanding what they see. In order to prove his point he sets up an elaborate scene and then plans to quiz the attendees on what they have seen. It is no particular surprise to the reader when Marcus Chesney ends up dead.
‘You know Marcus. I’ve always said he was What’s-his-name–you know, that writer we had to read at school–the one who would walk twenty miles to get the right description of a flower that didn’t matter a curse anyway. And, the minute Marcus got an idea, he had to go and do it smack-bang right off the reel. So they played this little game. Right in the middle of it–well, somebody came in and killed Marcus. If I’ve understood ’em properly, every one of ’em saw the murderer and followed every move he made. And yet they can’t agree on anything that happened.’
Dr. Fell is eventually convinced to become interested in the mystery. At first, he did not find it challenging enough but as the situation becomes more challenging he becomes involved. I do enjoy Dr. Fell.
Dr. Fell, Ellliot has sometimes thought, would be a bad person with whom to hold a conversation on a morning (say) when you were suffering from too many whiskies the night before. HIs mind moved so fast that it was round the corner and in at the window before your mental eyesight could follow it. You were conscious of a whir of wings, a capping of tall words; and then, before you quite knew what had happened, a whole edifice had been reared by steps which seemed completely logical at the time but were difficult to remember afterwards.
I stayed up late one night in order to finish this book. I really enjoyed it. I definitely appreciate the kindness of the British Library in sending me copies of these books to review.
