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Author | E.C.R. Lorac |
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Series | Chief Inspector MacDonald |
Genre | Detective |
Publisher | Collins |
Publication date | 1937 |
Media type | |
Preceded by | These Names Make Clues |
Followed by | The Devil and the C.I.D. |
Bats in the Belfry is a 1937 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. [1] [2] It is the thirteenth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. [3] Lorac wrote it in the summer of 1936 while staying with her mother at Westward Ho! in North Devon. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2018 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Reviewing it for the Times Literary Supplement , John Everard Gurdon noted "The plot is intricate and the characterisation sure, with one exception. To identify that exception would be to anticipate the solution." while a later review in A Catalogue of Crime described it as "An early Lorac and a disappointment".
After Bruce Attleton a once successful now struggling novelist, disappears after apparently being blackmailed his friends investigate. Their enquiries take them to Notting Hill and a strange, semi-derelict building with a tower known as The Belfry, now used as an art studio. The police are called in after they discover a suitcase belonging to the missing man and the blackmailer, an Alsatian sculptor named Debrette has himself vanished. MacDonald is convinced this is a murder case and begins a tortuous search of the rambling building, eventually finding a headless and handless corpse ingenuously hidden in a wall. But does it belong to Attleton or Debrette?
A further series of accidents and incidents to various other figures involved in the case throws doubt on the stories and motives of various suspects, particularly Attleton's actress wife Sybilla and her stockbroker lover. However, MacDonald becomes increasingly convinced that the whole business revolves around a potentially very large inheritance that someway may inherit with Attleton out of the way.
These Names Make Clues is a 1937 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It was the twelfth entry in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. It was written shortly after Lorac had been elected as a member of the Detection Club, and was likely influenced by her experiences there. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2021 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Accident by Design is a 1950 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty fourth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. Like a number of Lorac's works it takes the form of a country house mystery, a popular branch of the genre during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Maurice Richardson in an review in The Observer wrote "The usual carefully constructed, rural family murder case which we expect from this eminently trustworthy exponent of the English school of whodunnit."
Murder in Vienna is a 1956 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the forty second in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more conventional detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It has an unusual foreign setting, post-war Vienna still occupied by the Allies, compared to the rest of the series which generally takes place in London or the English countryside. Maurice Richardson reviewing the novel for The Observer described it as the "usual solid job".
The Dog It Was That Died is a 1952 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty sixth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more conventional detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published by the Collins Crime Club.
Murder in the Mill-Race is a 1952 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty seventh in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the numerous detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was released in the United States under the alternative title Speak Justly of the Dead. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2019 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Crook O'Lune is a 1953 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty eighth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more orthodox detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of Shepherd's Crook.
Still Waters is a 1949 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty second in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more orthodox detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Part for a Poisoner is a 1948 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty first in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more conventional detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of Place for a Poisoner.
Death Before Dinner is a 1948 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirtieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of A Screen for Murder.
Death at Dyke's Corner is a 1940 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the nineteenth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.
The Sixteenth Stair is a 1942 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the twenty second in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.
Rope's End, Rogue's End is a 1942 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the twenty first in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. It takes the form of the country house mystery, popular during the era.
Case in the Clinic is a 1941 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the twentieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.
Murder on a Monument is a 1958 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the forty fifth in her long-running series featuring Superintendent MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more conventional detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Along with Murder in Vienna it was one of the rare ventures abroad for the series which generally took place in London and rural England. It was penultimate novel featuring MacDonald to be published during Lorac's lifetime.
The Organ Speaks is a 1935 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the eighth book featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard who appeared in a lengthy series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Death of an Author is a 1935 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is a rare standalone book by Lorac, not featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard who appeared in a lengthy series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was her final novel published by Sampson Low before she switched to the more prestigious Collins Crime Club with whom she remained for the rest of her career.
Murder in Chelsea is a 1934 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the seventh book featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard who appeared in a lengthy series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
A Pall for a Painter is a 1936 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the tenth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.
Murder by Matchlight is a 1945 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It was the twenty sixth novel of her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2018 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Crime Counter Crime is a 1936 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the ninth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. It was her first novel published by Collins Crime Club after switching from Sampson Low, partly on the success of the previous entry in the series The Organ Speaks. Collins then published the remainder the series.