Still Waters

Robert Macdonald #32

by E.C.R. Lorac, Martin Edwards (Introduction)

He left the ruin and walked on to the quarry pool... ominous, dark and dangerous... the treacherous slippery rocks, the steep fall from the ridge...  

Trouble is brewing for the Hoggetts and their friend Chief Inspector Macdonald in Lunesdale, deep in the Lancashire fell country. By the jagged cliffs and chilling depths of a secluded quarry pool, strange noises disturb the night, and after an architect surveying the area is nearly hoisted into the cold waters by an unseen assailant, suspicions of a cold current of crime running through the area become a matter for the police. 

First published in 1949, this classic of Lake District crime fiction pairs Lorac’s evocative depictions of her beloved Lunesdale with a twisting and intelligent puzzle for Chief Inspector Macdonald.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, British Literature, Crime

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

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

[Phil Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Lorac set in North Lancashire. The way the landscape and the rural way of life shape the mystery is her strength.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really delightful and engaging book. I particularly enjoyed the various (and clearly inaccurate!) theories postulated by assorted characters as they each twirled the facts to fit their own bias.

Exceptionally well told.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 2-star mystery, but I'm feeling generous so I'm giving it a third star for sheer atmosphere/setting, and a fourth for one of the cleverest titles I've ever seen (read to find out why.)

[S Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good.

As always. I find having to write a specified number of words very tedious, when I have said all that needs saying in the first three of them.

[Lady D · Rating 3 out of 5]

i didn't really get it. I'll read it again the the future but the still water name was clever

[Sarah Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

An atmospheric mystery set in the Lake District. Well worth reading. Lorax is up to her usual standard.