E C R Lorac who also writes under the name Carol Carnac is one of my favourite crime authors unearthed and brought back into the public eye by the British Library Crime Classic series. Pretty sure when they started this series off they did not expect it to be so popular or do so well, but it has and they keep on coming. Not all are to my taste, some of the writing can be old fashioned and a couple of authors I find pretty turgid, but other reviewers have disagreed with me so it all comes down to personal taste as always.
There was only one edition of this title and if you could track one down you would be looking at a three figure price as I have ascertained when looking through websites. It has been out of print since 1935 so Death of an Author is a gem for mystery lovers.
It is Introduced as always by the incredibly knowledgeable Martin Edwards, whose love of mystery and crime permeates everything he writes.
The author of the title is one Vivian Lestrange a recluse who avoids publicity and refuses to have his photograph taken and about whom nothing is known. He is published by Marriott and after a debate with another author, Ashe, an invitation to meet for dinner is issued and, surprisingly, accepted.
Ashe is totally shocked when a young woman turns up who Marriott regards as "the coolest creature I ever met in my life". She is scathing regarding his reaction "what but male conceit formulated that judgement of yours that no woman could have written a book which you admired? Is your estimate of all women the same?"
I think the reader can safely assume that this is how E R Lorac/Carol Carnac felt....
Three months after this party a woman walks into Hampstead Police station to announce that she is worried that something has happened to Vivian Lestrange, her employer. This woman. Eleonor Clarke, is the same woman who claimed to be Lestrange at the aforementioned dinner party. It transpires that he asked her to pretend to be him.
Now before I go any further I think it might be wise for all of you who wish to read this book to have a pencil and paper to hand or yellow post its so you can jot down points or flag pages. I had to do this as the plot is intricate and convoluted and leads you in several directions at once with several theories all of which can be probable.
Shortly after the author's disappearance a dead body is found in a small country village. A note book is to hand which gives identification of the body clear. It is Lestrange. But is it?
OK I am going to stop here. If I continue I am going to give information away and I have no desire to do that all. Just to say it was intriguing, full of twists and turns, and totally satisfying.
But be warned, as I have already said, you need to concentrate!
