Murder at Lilac Cottage

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Murder at Lilac Cottage
Murder at Lilac Cottage.jpg
American first edition
Author John Rhode
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series Lancelot Priestley
GenreDetective
Publisher Collins (UK)
Dodd Mead (US)
Publication date
1940
Media typePrint
Preceded by Death on the Boat Train  
Followed by Death at the Helm  

Murder at Lilac Cottage is a 1940 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. [1] It is the thirty third in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. [2] In the Times Literary Supplement reviewer Maurice Willson Disher noted "With both ingenuity and originality at command, he will keep puzzle-solvers guessing until it pleases Dr. Priestley to explain why clues are not what they seem." while Ralph Partridge gave it a broadly positive review in the New Statesman .

Contents

Synopsis

In a largely peaceful village in England during the early stages of the Second World War the body of the young man who owns Lilac Cottage is found dead. The only clue that the investigating officers of Scotland Yard can find is a five pound note, but it lures Priestley to the trail. A second murder takes place nearby soon afterwards, puzzling to most, but to Priestley it confirms the theory he is already developing.

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<i>Men Die at Cyprus Lodge</i> 1943 novel

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<i>The Bloody Tower</i> 1938 novel

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<i>The Fourth Bomb</i> 1942 novel

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<i>Death at the Helm</i> 1941 novel

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<i>Death on the Boat Train</i> 1940 novel

Death on the Boat Train is a 1940 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty second in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. As in most of the later novels much of the detective footwork is done by Inspector Waghorn of Scotland Yard. The construction of the murder setting bears similarities to Death in the Tunnel, written by Street under his other pen name Miles Burton. With is focus on seemingly unbreakable alibis and railway and ship timetables, it is also similar in style to the Inspector French novels of Freeman Wills Crofts.

References

  1. Magill p.1417
  2. Reilly p.1257

Bibliography