Long shadows

Julian Rivers #15

by Carol Carnac

Genres: Mystery

255 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Edith Caroline Rivett (who wrote under the pseudonyms E.C.R. Lorac, Carol Carnac, Carol Rivett, and Mary le Bourne) was a British crime writer. She was born in Hendon, Middlesex (now London). She attended the South Hampstead High School, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.

She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is very strong, maybe a 4*, but the ending is messy and convoluted, 2*. So 3* average. I believe the author was ill by this point so perhaps she rushed the story...

There are a lot, a LOT of loose ends in this story that needed to be tied up and this was not done satisfactorily and the solution was a bit over the top, with multiple characters being involved in the events. It didn't help that I was reading it in starts and stops in between moving across country.

I've now read three of ECR Lorac's aka Carol Carnac's mysteries in close proximity, and all three included rather offensive language in relation to the disabled, particularly people with mental illness, and not just in passing. Lots of references to "mental" and "defective", etc.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very average mystery, full of speculations and potential connections and links.. all rather far-fetched. It starts with a sudden burst of interest in the super-luxurious nursing home Helen's Court. Several journalists are asking questions. The police receive an anonymous letter. Dr. Sowerby's wife wants him to drive her up there for a visit. And when they arrive, they hear that an ailing man has died, a man who does not seem to be who he said he was. Fingerprints come to the rescue, and from then on it's a confusing story of an old crime, falling-out among thieves. Not a whole lot of detection, but a lot of speculation. I found the final explanation too far-fetched.