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Julian Rivers #14
The Double Turn
From the dust jacket:
The scene demanded--and got--an artistic murder.
The housekeeper Miss Trimming, stretched out black-garbed and dead on the floor of the Delafield mansion, was a Gothic personality. The house was a vicgtorian museum of rejected taste, and the painter Adrian Delafield, badly hurt in the mysterious mishap that killed Miss Trimming, was an aged wreck of his old self.
The death of Miss Trimming was a neat portrait of and accident, but accidents are normally messy matters. An observer could ask how Delafield's daughter, his grandson, and their mysterious friends fitted in.
The Delafield house may have looked like a museum, but it was alive with all kinds of plots, counter plots . . . and a variety of ways of dying.
The scene demanded--and got--an artistic murder.
The housekeeper Miss Trimming, stretched out black-garbed and dead on the floor of the Delafield mansion, was a Gothic personality. The house was a vicgtorian museum of rejected taste, and the painter Adrian Delafield, badly hurt in the mysterious mishap that killed Miss Trimming, was an aged wreck of his old self.
The death of Miss Trimming was a neat portrait of and accident, but accidents are normally messy matters. An observer could ask how Delafield's daughter, his grandson, and their mysterious friends fitted in.
The Delafield house may have looked like a museum, but it was alive with all kinds of plots, counter plots . . . and a variety of ways of dying.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
About the author
Carol Carnac
30 books29 followersEdith 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 2, 2023
This is one of ECR Lorac's Julian Rivers mysteries that she wrote under the pseudonym of Carol Carnac.
I'm fond of Chief Inspector Rivers and his younger colleague Inspector Lancing. Their verbal exchanges were for me the highlight of this book. Otherwise, it was a so-so 'locked room' mystery.
There wasn't a whole lot of action, until the last 50 pages, when everything came to a head. I felt the same way that Rivers did about most of the characters-exasperated!
I feel like I've read too many of the author's books too close together--I figured out the major baddie from early on.
However, the book had the virtue of being short, so it was a quick read. Not one of her best, but I don't feel like I wasted my time.
I'm fond of Chief Inspector Rivers and his younger colleague Inspector Lancing. Their verbal exchanges were for me the highlight of this book. Otherwise, it was a so-so 'locked room' mystery.
There wasn't a whole lot of action, until the last 50 pages, when everything came to a head. I felt the same way that Rivers did about most of the characters-exasperated!
I feel like I've read too many of the author's books too close together--I figured out the major baddie from early on.
However, the book had the virtue of being short, so it was a quick read. Not one of her best, but I don't feel like I wasted my time.
February 15, 2026
Another enjoyable Lorac/Carnac. This one involves art, religious mania and a curious locked house mystery. I'm thankful for the British Library Crime Classics for reprinting such forgotten authors, because I thoroughly enjoy her work.
April 9, 2026
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.com/2026/...
https://crossexaminingcrime.com/2026/...
September 9, 2015
This is possibly the worst book I have ever read. I literally had to take my eyes and force them to read this. Nothing exciting or worthwhile happens until about page 130, and the characters are so dull I just wanted to punch myself to liven things up even a tiny bit. If you ever see this, pass.
April 6, 2023
The Late Miss Trimming is a strange woman, a housekeeper with a religious mania and obsessive devotion to her master. She ends up dead in what looks like a domestic accident but the police aren't convinced. And yet, all the doors were locked from the inside and there's a missing tradesman who did work on the house...
A solid mystery, but like another book of hers I'd read recently, the key clue doesn't arrive until very late in the game so it's impossible to solve the mystery before the detective. This story had a really weird character, Miss Trimming herself. She was bizarre and uncanny, but some of the plot twists later in the story shed some light on why she came across that way. In fact, there were several plot twists that I did NOT see coming and the ones I suspected did not eventuate and/or proved to be red herrings, so that's a bonus, I love being surprised.
The characters are well drawn, the plot is solid. My biggest complaint is the pace - both of her novels kind of dragged until the last third or so. We have a long introduction to all the characters and the situational context, we have a long middle where nothing much happens other than lots of conversations to deepen our understanding of the characters and their relationships and then finally there's action in the last third. I had no idea who the murderer was until the last few pages when the critical clue was discovered.
These Inspector Rivers mysteries aren't strictly cosy and this one ends up being surprisingly dark once everything is known. While there's a sense that all will be OK in the end, none of the characters are particularly likeable and we never get close enough to them to really connect, keeping this more of a cerebral mystery. Would definitely read more of these if only I could find them as sadly her books are largely out of print.
A solid mystery, but like another book of hers I'd read recently, the key clue doesn't arrive until very late in the game so it's impossible to solve the mystery before the detective. This story had a really weird character, Miss Trimming herself. She was bizarre and uncanny, but some of the plot twists later in the story shed some light on why she came across that way. In fact, there were several plot twists that I did NOT see coming and the ones I suspected did not eventuate and/or proved to be red herrings, so that's a bonus, I love being surprised.
The characters are well drawn, the plot is solid. My biggest complaint is the pace - both of her novels kind of dragged until the last third or so. We have a long introduction to all the characters and the situational context, we have a long middle where nothing much happens other than lots of conversations to deepen our understanding of the characters and their relationships and then finally there's action in the last third. I had no idea who the murderer was until the last few pages when the critical clue was discovered.
These Inspector Rivers mysteries aren't strictly cosy and this one ends up being surprisingly dark once everything is known. While there's a sense that all will be OK in the end, none of the characters are particularly likeable and we never get close enough to them to really connect, keeping this more of a cerebral mystery. Would definitely read more of these if only I could find them as sadly her books are largely out of print.
March 5, 2026
The house was locked: the owner's daughter and the doctor tried the doors and checked the windows. There was no possible way that a murderer had left the premises before they arrived. And yet, there is a dead body. Surely this is the case of an accidental death? The detective doesn't think so. Small things -- the placement of a clock, a strange accident, the reconnection between the owner and an old friend -- suggest that something more nefarious was afoot.
I really enjoyed this novel. It was slow but well-paced with a reasonable (albeit not unforeseen conclusion). I had a three hour journey and this book took me exactly three hours to read, which made me like it even more.
I really enjoyed this novel. It was slow but well-paced with a reasonable (albeit not unforeseen conclusion). I had a three hour journey and this book took me exactly three hours to read, which made me like it even more.
February 10, 2026
One of the best crime novels of the 20C.
The more I read E.R.C.Lorac (Carnac), the more confused I am that she was not one of the Big Three Golden Age writers, rather than Gladys Mitchell. She outdoes Mitchell on every front.
As always with this author, the story clips along at good rate, is highly readable, and populated with likeable characters, but this one exceeds all expectations in plot, delivery, and character development.
It really does keep you guessing until the last few pages.
Couldn't put it down.
The more I read E.R.C.Lorac (Carnac), the more confused I am that she was not one of the Big Three Golden Age writers, rather than Gladys Mitchell. She outdoes Mitchell on every front.
As always with this author, the story clips along at good rate, is highly readable, and populated with likeable characters, but this one exceeds all expectations in plot, delivery, and character development.
It really does keep you guessing until the last few pages.
Couldn't put it down.
March 25, 2026
I really do love this author, whichever pseudonym she is using. Her characters are always well-defined, the settings vivid, and her dialogue just clips along. The settings-up is realistic and the detectives’ frustration is quite believable; they strongly suspect foul play and doggedly explore clues and leads. Very enjoyable novel.
April 5, 2026
Very enjoyable whodunnit where the characters and the setting are more important than the puzzle. I really enjoy the author’s emphasis on people and place. I like her detective Rivers - not a maverick, just a decent man.
December 18, 2022
3.5 stars actually. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
February 14, 2026
Very good mystery
Kept me guessing til the end
Kept me guessing til the end
April 30, 2026
Had to read right to the end! Super Dooper
May 17, 2026
I am so glad these books are being reprinted I so enjoy them
February 13, 2026
enjoying another carnac book? something must be wrong
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews