Book Review//Impact of Evidence by Carol Carnac

The British Library has reprinted many thoroughly enjoyable mystery novels and I have appreciated every one they have sent me. I think, though, that some of my favorites are by E. C. R. Lorac who also wrote as Carol Carnac. Lorac wrote more than 70 novels under her several pen names and deserves to be more well-known. Her books are always well-written with a strong sense of place. Frequently, I am left wanting to read more about the characters even after the mystery is solved.

Impact of Evidence: A Welsh Borders Mystery is set in the countryside in an area that is temporarily isolated due to heavy snow and then flooding from the subsequent thaw. The book starts with an accident. Dr. Robinson, elderly and a menace as a driver, is killed in a collision with another vehicle. All seems to be straightforward until a second dead body is found in the back of the doctor’s car. What is more, that body has been dead for several days.

Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lansing are called in to deal with the case. They encounter a cast of characters who all have their own opinions about the mystery and their own secrets to keep. This leads to confusion for all but gradually, as happens in all good mysteries, things slowly become clear. As Chief Inspector Rivers said “We strayed all over the place. We always do—but we picked up the beam eventually.” You should pick up this book. It was a lovely way to while away a rainy evening.