Murder as a Fine Art

Julian Rivers #9

by Carol Carnac

When a civil servant at the newly formed Ministry of Fine Arts is found crushed beneath a monstrous marble bust after dark, it appears to be the third instance in a string of fatal accidents at the department. Already disturbed by rumours of forgeries and irregularities in the Ministry’s dealings, Minister Humphry David is soon faced with the possibility that among his colleagues is a murderer – though how the bust could have been made an instrument of death is a masterstroke of criminal devilment. Taking charge of the case, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard enters a caustic world of fine art and civil service grievances to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, London, British Literature, Classics, Art, Golden Age Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

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

[Anissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am always going to pick up a Lorac book in the British Library Crime Classics collection. This, though, was not Carnac's (Lorac) best mystery. While I liked it enough as a police procedural, the mystery was a bit lacking. I didn't figure out the who, but I was right on the how. Also, the characters were surprisingly flat.

This fair miss in no way changes the fact that I will read more books by Carnac/Lorac in the future. If you're a fan and skip this one, you'll probably still have lived a full reading life.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually really like Carnac/Lorac's novels, but this one seemed a bit overly complicated. Not her best.

[Phil Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting setting in the postwar "Ministry of Fine Art" with an intriguing puzzle of crushed by a statue. But this is one of the more pedestrian ECR Lorac's. Too many colourless characters to distinguish one from the other.

[Siv30 · Rating 4 out of 5]

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית ואנגלית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/murd...

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual terrific Lorac / Carnac atmosphere. However, this one is a little tedious at times, and lacking in the twists department. Rivers also does seem devoid of personality. Enjoyable nonetheless though!

[Verity W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol Carnac aka E C R Lorac is probably one of the best forgotten authors brought back to prominence through the BLCC series. Or at least she is in my opinion, so I try to grab her books as soon as I see them in KU. Murder as a Fine Art sees a Civil Servant crushed to death by a marble statue at the new Ministry of Fine Art. The minister in charge of the department already had some concerns about events in his department and now has to contemplate the fact that one of his staff may be a murderer. Inspector Julian Rivers is called in to investigate and try and work out what is going on. This has a clever murder but also work rivalries and grievances all mixed up with the world of fine art and modern art. It's clever and readable.

[Sarah G · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*. I’m a huge fan of ECR Lorac, especially her Inspector MacDonald novels, but this is my second Carnac book and I haven’t liked either of them. In contrast to the Lorac books, I’ve found the characters forgettable and poorly drawn, and the stories rather dull. Inspector Rivers is also somewhat of a cipher. I don’t understand why when it’s all the same author, but there you are. Maybe it’s because the Lorac settings often tallied better with the places the author personally loved best?

The plot here is fine but pedestrian, and even I could spot the clues to the howdunnit quite early on. Too many similar young men some with similar names - Welles/Weston for a start. I did like the immediate post WWII feel and details - these were interesting and made the book feel a bit more real.

[Adam Carson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of the ECR/ Carnac books I’ve read, I’ve liked this one the least. Set in the fictional Ministry of Fine Arts, the Minister suspects some shenanigans, and then the body of. Senior Civil Servant is discovered.

The plot is average with some ‘impossible crime’ elements which don’t really get off the ground and most characters you don’t feel you know well enough for them to be murderers.

Overall I just found a lot of the writing fairly tedious and at times repetitive. Maybe the subject didn’t interest me and that didn’t help, but this was not for me.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slightly satirical look at government and modern art with an overly complex murder and many potential killers. Despite all the fun and games, the characters are largely believable and relatable. Poor old Canova...

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: higher-ups in the Ministry of Fine Arts are dying; the question is why? Scotland Yard's CI Rivers gets to the truth.

[Kim Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely cracking read from the pen of Carol Carnac. I have to say that this is the first book featuring Julian Rivers I have read and I shall certainly look for more. I think the author must have come across some civil servants at some point. The characters seemed very much how I would imagine them to be. Certainly in the 1950's. This book should be a must for all lovers of golden age detective fiction.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written as always but not, I felt, one of her better books. I found it quite tricky to keep track of who was who and there was an awful lot of dialogue and not too much detection.

[Laura Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lesser Lorac/Carnac story; barely 3 stars. What I enjoy about Lorac is usually atmosphere and dialogue but the "howdunit" gets more focus than the characters or plot.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.com/2025/...

[Cathy Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

The Ministry of Fine Arts, which was created after the end of WWII, is the setting for this book and it’s obvious from the outset that the author is knowledgable about art, and there are several subtle digs and witty observations directed at the modern art movement. The newly appointed Minister Humphry David, hadn’t wanted the job and, although he was passionate about the arts, he disliked the pretentiousness which often accompanied it.

Not long after David’s appointment he invited a friend, Henry Fearon, an employee at Scotland Yard who was an expert on forgeries, to visit him because he had suspicions that some of the files had been tampered with or even falsified.

The deputy Permanent Secretary, Edwin Pompfret, was generally disliked and/or made fun of because of his pompous and know-it-all attitude. When he was found dead, crushed by the huge bust which he had despised, his death was thought to be an accident. However, suspicion that he had in fact been murdered seemed to quash the accident theory.

'Together they lay at the foot of the noblest state staircase in London: both with broken necks.'

Chief Detective Inspector Julian Rivers is called in to investigate. There’s quite a long list of possible suspects, quite difficult to keep track of, and the mystery is a ‘how done it’ as well as a ‘who done it’ exploring several ways in which the murder may have been committed.

I’ve read two other books by E.C.R. Lorac writing as Carol Carnac which I thoroughly enjoyed. This one didn’t hold my interest nearly as much initially, which was I think, due in part to the subject matter. The book was written well, as always, but there wasn’t much action, and included a lot of information about the Ministry itself, making it quite a slow read. And I thought the conclusion to the murder/mystery took rather a circuitous and complicated route.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A body is found at the foot of a staircase in the Ministry of Fine Art, crushed by statue that everyone seemed to hate. But who was at the Ministry late at night to topple the statue? As always, there's a motley crew of suspects, all of whom are interviewed and investigated by our detectives.

I was annoyed by a few aspects of the style at the beginning--the author has an annoying habit of including unnecessary reporting verbs, some of which did not match the tone of what was said, and the author also seemed to favour run-on sentences--but I soon didn't notice these as I comfortably fell into the story. This was a very enjoyable novel and I looked forward to returning to it. The actual solution was a little underwhelming but fortunately, I read murder mysteries more for the experience than the solution!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

DRC from Edelweiss and Poisoned Pen Press / Sourcebooks
Classic murder mystery - clues, suspects, red-herrings, and closure. The first few chapters are setting the stage and telling us the characters. Next, there is a dead man at the bottom of the staircase and a marble bust rolling near him. Did he try to move the bust and trip? Did someone push him and roll the bust after him? The Ministry of Fine Arts is having issues and this is the latest and possibly the one that will disband the department. Scotland Yard gets involved and the “how” is quickly determined - the why takes the rest of the book.
A slow start and somewhat flat characters, this is a mystery that follows the rules.

[Chavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book dragged a lot with all its meaningless details. Almost like a textbook sometimes.
Not the author's best work though in the end I got used to the tedious descriptions enough to sift the wheat from the chaff, thankfully.

I don't think anyone can guess the culprit in this one except on the basis of one age-old dictum of crime novels because all the names and details just ran together in a muck.

Well, still, three stars it is. It's a solid book, just boring and dragging presentation.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with others here that the characters, of the potential suspects at least, are so undeveloped that it is hard to make headway with a solution to the mystery. However, Carnac (whose Macdonald mysteries as ECR Lorac are superb) writes so well, and is so obviously opinionated about the art world herself, that this has other fascinations. I enjoyed it.

[Alexander Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I love this author; but not this one. The plot is too unfocused, with pages devoted to characters who are scarcely connected, and never really suspected, of the crime. And the method of murder is ludicrously over-complicated! (It's one of those Golden Age murders where the victim conveniently stations himself just where a heavy weight will land!)

[Steven Heywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable mystery where you do well to listen to what people are saying to each other, not least because so much of the narrative is dialogue. The ending feels rushed but all the clues are out there in plain sight quite early on in the book.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

listened to this on Audiobook and I can't recall when I last heard such a boring story. E C R Lorac's Inspector McDonald books are extremely good, but Carol Carnac's Julian Rivers books are not as good, and this one was just awful. Strange, since the author is the same for both series'.

[Lynnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually like work-place settings for mysteries and I love Lorac/Carnac books but not this one sadly. I didn't find it at all engaging and even skipped some pages, it was very repetitive and tedious.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different setting and nice post WW2 atmosphere but slightly tedious in places!

[Claire Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this one - I enjoy art & art history and loved how "British" it felt. I generally enjoy the Carnac/Lorac books the most in this series.

[Sue Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read with interesting twists.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Carnac, just didn’t find the characters that compelling in this book

[Sarah Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best so far

[J Grimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fine traditional Who done it - Do read it.

[Craftyhj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

I found this an authentic and well written book which stands the test of time pretty well. It is delightfully tongue-in-cheek at times which increases the enjoyment.