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Two-Way Murder
'This is only a hill mist, not a real fog. You'll find it'll be perfectly clear when we run down into Fordings. Let's think - were you at the Hunt Ball last year, too?'
It is a dark and misty night - isn't it always? - and bachelors Nicholas and Ian are driving to the ball at Fordings, a beautiful concert hall in the countryside. There waits the charming Dilys Maine, and a party buzzing with rumours of one Rosemary Reeve who disappeared on the eve of this event the previous year, not found to this day. With thoughts of mysterious case ringing in their ears, Dilys and Nicholas strike a stranger on the drive back home, launching a new investigation and unwittingly reviving the search for what really became of Rosemary Reeve.
All the hallmarks of the Golden Age mystery are here in this previously unpublished novel by E.C.R. Lorac, boasting the author's characteristically detailed sense of setting and gripping police work.
It is a dark and misty night - isn't it always? - and bachelors Nicholas and Ian are driving to the ball at Fordings, a beautiful concert hall in the countryside. There waits the charming Dilys Maine, and a party buzzing with rumours of one Rosemary Reeve who disappeared on the eve of this event the previous year, not found to this day. With thoughts of mysterious case ringing in their ears, Dilys and Nicholas strike a stranger on the drive back home, launching a new investigation and unwittingly reviving the search for what really became of Rosemary Reeve.
All the hallmarks of the Golden Age mystery are here in this previously unpublished novel by E.C.R. Lorac, boasting the author's characteristically detailed sense of setting and gripping police work.
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 10, 2021
120 people are currently reading
820 people want to read
About the author
E.C.R. Lorac
74 books177 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 - 30 of 161 reviews
June 20, 2021
The man in the street…
All the young men in the neighbourhood are on their way to the Hunt Ball at Fordings, and most of them also appear to be well on the way to falling in love with lovely young Dilys Maine. It’s a foggy, misty night and local man Nick Brent offers to drive Ian Macbane, a visitor to the district, to the Ball. But Nick makes it clear Ian will have to find another lift back, since he intends to drive Dilys home. As he and Dilys return along the low road, they see something lying in the middle of the road which on inspection turns out to be the body of a dead man. Gentlemanly Nick tells Dilys to walk the remaining short distance home so she can avoid getting involved in giving a statement to the police, since her strict father doesn’t know she’s at the ball. When the police turn up they quickly realise the dead man has been murdered, but before they can find out whodunit they will have to identify him…
In my usual way, I waited till I’d read the book before I read the introduction, so was completely unaware while reading that this book was from a “lost” manuscript, never before published. Martin Edwards had heard about it from a book-dealer friend some years ago, but it’s only now, when he has for some years been editing the British Library Crime Classics series and has done so much to return ECR Lorac to the prominence she deserves, that the BL agreed to publish it. Edwards tells us they have given it a light edit, simply to remove a few repetitions and duplications, but it is substantially as written. In my view, it is right up there with her best, which means it’s very good indeed.
It has a slightly odd structure in that the main investigative viewpoint changes as the book progresses. At first, a rather unlikeable “by-the-book” policeman, Inspector Turner, is in the lead, taking statements and jumping to conclusions and generally being annoying. Then for a bit Ian Macbane is in the limelight, as he sets out to do a bit of amateur detection, driven on by his desire to protect Dilys. Finally, for the bulk of the book, Inspector Waring of the local CID takes over. He’s a complete contrast to Turner – his method is to chat to the locals, pick up on gossip, listen to rumours, and generally feel his way through all the deceptions and half-truths the suspects and witnesses are feeding him, mostly in this unfathomable desire all the men seem to have to protect beautiful but pathetic Dilys (who in my humble opinion would have been vastly improved by having to take responsibility for her own life occasionally).
I liked Waring very much – Edwards speculates that perhaps he was a new venture for Lorac, getting away from her long-running series detective, Inspector MacDonald. Unfortunately she died not long after this book was finished so we’ll never know if she had planned to give Waring more outings. I like MacDonald too, but Waring has rather more personality and works more on instinct and knowledge of human nature, rather than the somewhat more procedural feel of the MacDonald stories.
There’s a fair amount of mild humour in the book and a smidgen of romance, just the right amount. But the important thing is the underlying mystery, and it’s excellent. Lorac shows how unreliable witnesses are when they’re trying to keep all kinds of secrets that have nothing to do with the crime itself, and Waring has a natural talent for sorting the wheat from the chaff and getting to the truth. I loved the crucial clue – very original, I thought – although obviously I can’t tell you anything about it. I had gradually come to suspect the right person, but quite late on and only after several false starts, and I still couldn’t work out how the thing had been done, or why. Waring remained a few steps ahead of me all the way through, and explained everything to my satisfaction in the end. Is it fair play? Yes, I think so – I think I had all the information that Waring had, just not the brainpower to work it out!
Since a lot of it involves people driving around the district on various roads or walking along bridle paths, I longed for a map – I suspect if it had been published in Lorac’s lifetime there may have been one. But Lorac is always great at her settings so I was able to gradually develop a mental map of the area as well as a clear picture of the various types of people in this small rural community – the farmers and business owners, those with a long pedigree and the newcomers, the dissolute and the self-appointed righteous guardians of other people’s morals.
A real find for Martin Edwards, and I’m grateful to him and the British Library for giving us all the opportunity to enjoy it. Lorac continues to be the brightest shining star in the BL’s sparkling firmament. Great stuff!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
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All the young men in the neighbourhood are on their way to the Hunt Ball at Fordings, and most of them also appear to be well on the way to falling in love with lovely young Dilys Maine. It’s a foggy, misty night and local man Nick Brent offers to drive Ian Macbane, a visitor to the district, to the Ball. But Nick makes it clear Ian will have to find another lift back, since he intends to drive Dilys home. As he and Dilys return along the low road, they see something lying in the middle of the road which on inspection turns out to be the body of a dead man. Gentlemanly Nick tells Dilys to walk the remaining short distance home so she can avoid getting involved in giving a statement to the police, since her strict father doesn’t know she’s at the ball. When the police turn up they quickly realise the dead man has been murdered, but before they can find out whodunit they will have to identify him…
In my usual way, I waited till I’d read the book before I read the introduction, so was completely unaware while reading that this book was from a “lost” manuscript, never before published. Martin Edwards had heard about it from a book-dealer friend some years ago, but it’s only now, when he has for some years been editing the British Library Crime Classics series and has done so much to return ECR Lorac to the prominence she deserves, that the BL agreed to publish it. Edwards tells us they have given it a light edit, simply to remove a few repetitions and duplications, but it is substantially as written. In my view, it is right up there with her best, which means it’s very good indeed.
It has a slightly odd structure in that the main investigative viewpoint changes as the book progresses. At first, a rather unlikeable “by-the-book” policeman, Inspector Turner, is in the lead, taking statements and jumping to conclusions and generally being annoying. Then for a bit Ian Macbane is in the limelight, as he sets out to do a bit of amateur detection, driven on by his desire to protect Dilys. Finally, for the bulk of the book, Inspector Waring of the local CID takes over. He’s a complete contrast to Turner – his method is to chat to the locals, pick up on gossip, listen to rumours, and generally feel his way through all the deceptions and half-truths the suspects and witnesses are feeding him, mostly in this unfathomable desire all the men seem to have to protect beautiful but pathetic Dilys (who in my humble opinion would have been vastly improved by having to take responsibility for her own life occasionally).
I liked Waring very much – Edwards speculates that perhaps he was a new venture for Lorac, getting away from her long-running series detective, Inspector MacDonald. Unfortunately she died not long after this book was finished so we’ll never know if she had planned to give Waring more outings. I like MacDonald too, but Waring has rather more personality and works more on instinct and knowledge of human nature, rather than the somewhat more procedural feel of the MacDonald stories.
There’s a fair amount of mild humour in the book and a smidgen of romance, just the right amount. But the important thing is the underlying mystery, and it’s excellent. Lorac shows how unreliable witnesses are when they’re trying to keep all kinds of secrets that have nothing to do with the crime itself, and Waring has a natural talent for sorting the wheat from the chaff and getting to the truth. I loved the crucial clue – very original, I thought – although obviously I can’t tell you anything about it. I had gradually come to suspect the right person, but quite late on and only after several false starts, and I still couldn’t work out how the thing had been done, or why. Waring remained a few steps ahead of me all the way through, and explained everything to my satisfaction in the end. Is it fair play? Yes, I think so – I think I had all the information that Waring had, just not the brainpower to work it out!
Since a lot of it involves people driving around the district on various roads or walking along bridle paths, I longed for a map – I suspect if it had been published in Lorac’s lifetime there may have been one. But Lorac is always great at her settings so I was able to gradually develop a mental map of the area as well as a clear picture of the various types of people in this small rural community – the farmers and business owners, those with a long pedigree and the newcomers, the dissolute and the self-appointed righteous guardians of other people’s morals.
A real find for Martin Edwards, and I’m grateful to him and the British Library for giving us all the opportunity to enjoy it. Lorac continues to be the brightest shining star in the BL’s sparkling firmament. Great stuff!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
July 22, 2024
Lorac deserves to be regarded, alongside Agatha Christie, as one of the greatest mystery writers of the 20th century.
January 24, 2025
Despite not having Chief Inspector Macdonald, I enjoyed this one very much. I didn’t guess anything about the mystery and I enjoyed all the characters a lot and their different evasions and fears and concerns. Inspector Waring was great fun and I enjoyed the meta discussion about whether detecting is about facts or intuition. Alice was a standout character. I always like when a detective novel plays with who the bad guy is. There are a lot of potential bad guys here.
October 10, 2022
What a clever mystery from one of my favorite Golden Age authors.
This one has it all: vast schools of red herrings; a slew of characters who are either reluctant to talk to the police or have no moral qualms about withholding evidence; and an interesting setting. The town of Fordings and the roads around it have a major role to play in the plot.
Lorac gives us a new set of policemen in this stand-alone book. We have Turner, a by-the-book cop who doesn't have a high opinion of the local population, who quickly decides who the murderer is, and his polar opposite, young Inspector Waring, a very personable and intuitive investigator, aware of all the local feuds, always looking for connections between the different threads of the mystery. I loved young Waring, he reminded me very much of Reeves (in the Inspector MacDonald books).
Lorac always plays fair--the clues are there for the reader. I confess that I solved the puzzle about the same time Waring did. I had fun following along with Waring as he tried to interviewed the major players--what an uncooperative bunch they were!
Be sure to read Martin Edwards' Introduction for the story of how this book came to be published.
This one has it all: vast schools of red herrings; a slew of characters who are either reluctant to talk to the police or have no moral qualms about withholding evidence; and an interesting setting. The town of Fordings and the roads around it have a major role to play in the plot.
Lorac gives us a new set of policemen in this stand-alone book. We have Turner, a by-the-book cop who doesn't have a high opinion of the local population, who quickly decides who the murderer is, and his polar opposite, young Inspector Waring, a very personable and intuitive investigator, aware of all the local feuds, always looking for connections between the different threads of the mystery. I loved young Waring, he reminded me very much of Reeves (in the Inspector MacDonald books).
Lorac always plays fair--the clues are there for the reader. I confess that I solved the puzzle about the same time Waring did. I had fun following along with Waring as he tried to interviewed the major players--what an uncooperative bunch they were!
Be sure to read Martin Edwards' Introduction for the story of how this book came to be published.
March 12, 2022
I received a free publisher's review copy, via Netgalley.
This latest in the British Library Crime Classics series is not, as usual, a re-publication of an old Golden Age crime novel. Instead, it’s the first-time publication of a manuscript found in the well-known Lorac’s effects after her death. It’s a standalone novel, not part of Lorac’s Inspector MacDonald series, and is set in the 1950s.
The setup involves a visit to the country by London lawyer Ian Macbane, whose old friend Nicholas Brent gives him a ride several miles down a long, foggy rural road so that they can attend the local Hunt Ball. Both are anxious to see the beautiful young Dilys Maine there and join the line of men on her dance card.
Brent, a war veteran and successful inn owner, is lucky enough to get Dilys to take a ride home with him, but it ends when they find a body lying in the road not far from the house of the hot-headed young farmer Michael Reeve and, on the other side of the road, the field path to Dilys’s house. Wanting to keep her out of any police inquiry, and to avoid trouble from Dilys’s bad-tempered father, Brent tells Dilys she should take the field path home while he goes to Reeve’s house to call the police. There, Brent is attacked and knocked out. But by whom?
Enter Inspector Waring, whose investigation of the murder of the man on the road is hampered by tight-lipped and truculent locals, who mislead him in many ways, including the identity of the victim. He wonders if this death is connected to the disappearance of Michael Reeve’s sister a year earlier, or to rumored criminal activities out of a nearby pub. He needs to figure this out soon, because it appears the murderer is now going after anyone who might provide clues to his identity.
This is a good mystery, with an interesting cast of characters and a clever solution that I kicked myself for not figuring out even though I spotted one of the keys to the whodunnit early on.
If you have enjoyed books in the British Library Crime Classics series, you should like this one. I’d say it’s one of the better ones I’ve read in that series.
This latest in the British Library Crime Classics series is not, as usual, a re-publication of an old Golden Age crime novel. Instead, it’s the first-time publication of a manuscript found in the well-known Lorac’s effects after her death. It’s a standalone novel, not part of Lorac’s Inspector MacDonald series, and is set in the 1950s.
The setup involves a visit to the country by London lawyer Ian Macbane, whose old friend Nicholas Brent gives him a ride several miles down a long, foggy rural road so that they can attend the local Hunt Ball. Both are anxious to see the beautiful young Dilys Maine there and join the line of men on her dance card.
Brent, a war veteran and successful inn owner, is lucky enough to get Dilys to take a ride home with him, but it ends when they find a body lying in the road not far from the house of the hot-headed young farmer Michael Reeve and, on the other side of the road, the field path to Dilys’s house. Wanting to keep her out of any police inquiry, and to avoid trouble from Dilys’s bad-tempered father, Brent tells Dilys she should take the field path home while he goes to Reeve’s house to call the police. There, Brent is attacked and knocked out. But by whom?
Enter Inspector Waring, whose investigation of the murder of the man on the road is hampered by tight-lipped and truculent locals, who mislead him in many ways, including the identity of the victim. He wonders if this death is connected to the disappearance of Michael Reeve’s sister a year earlier, or to rumored criminal activities out of a nearby pub. He needs to figure this out soon, because it appears the murderer is now going after anyone who might provide clues to his identity.
This is a good mystery, with an interesting cast of characters and a clever solution that I kicked myself for not figuring out even though I spotted one of the keys to the whodunnit early on.
If you have enjoyed books in the British Library Crime Classics series, you should like this one. I’d say it’s one of the better ones I’ve read in that series.
March 15, 2023
This is an easy to read mystery. Set in the UK, it has lots of strange characters that are indicative of a small village, even in today’s hustle and bustle. The killer was not evident to me at first but I figured it out toward the end.
The polite manner that everyone treated each other, particularly the women, was nice to read. I needed a break from a couple of heavy books I had read. This fit the bill.
The polite manner that everyone treated each other, particularly the women, was nice to read. I needed a break from a couple of heavy books I had read. This fit the bill.
December 24, 2025
It may not be a foggy night in London town but it was a murky evening on the Sussex Downs – and ideal for foul play and murder. The time was around 1956, war rationing had ended, those horrid socialists had been deposed and right thinking Conservatives could rejoice as England sank back into its old ways once more. A shame about the creation of the NHS but never mind, at least it would keep the servants healthy.
The story opens with Nicholas Brent giving Ian Macbane a lift to the Hunt Ball. I am not sure if hunt balls remain a pursuit of rural folk. It seems that in the 1950s they were a form of marital cattle market for provincial debutantes. Lots of flirting, fumbling and comparisons of parents' bank balances and social status in the local hierarchy. The evening should have been straight forwardly enjoyable – until the two chaps in the car find a body lying on the road.
What follows is a charming, immensely enjoyable little mystery with an intelligent and amiable detective inspector who deduces some facts from his own observations but most of them from chatting with the locals: a two-faced, square-jawed villain with an axe to grind and a host of delightfully drawn support acts to keep the story bouncing along. It is not a startlingly original page-turner; however, there are enough red herrings and misleading assumptions to keep anyone happy for an evening's light entertainment. Best read in an approximation of 1950s Home Counties affluence: evening dress and sitting before a merrily blazing fire with a decanter of Madeira to hand – a couple of glasses of course - and a bowl of roasted cashews to dip into. Cosy [cozy] is the word that comes to mind.
The story opens with Nicholas Brent giving Ian Macbane a lift to the Hunt Ball. I am not sure if hunt balls remain a pursuit of rural folk. It seems that in the 1950s they were a form of marital cattle market for provincial debutantes. Lots of flirting, fumbling and comparisons of parents' bank balances and social status in the local hierarchy. The evening should have been straight forwardly enjoyable – until the two chaps in the car find a body lying on the road.
What follows is a charming, immensely enjoyable little mystery with an intelligent and amiable detective inspector who deduces some facts from his own observations but most of them from chatting with the locals: a two-faced, square-jawed villain with an axe to grind and a host of delightfully drawn support acts to keep the story bouncing along. It is not a startlingly original page-turner; however, there are enough red herrings and misleading assumptions to keep anyone happy for an evening's light entertainment. Best read in an approximation of 1950s Home Counties affluence: evening dress and sitting before a merrily blazing fire with a decanter of Madeira to hand – a couple of glasses of course - and a bowl of roasted cashews to dip into. Cosy [cozy] is the word that comes to mind.
March 26, 2021
4.5 stars I think, but it can have an extra half for being a never before published ECR book, until rediscovered by Martin Edwards and British Library Crime.
According to the foreword, ECR wrote this towards the end of her life, the original manuscript didn’t have her name on it, it doesn’t include her usual detectives and it was never published. Apparently it’s been verified as hers, and even as a lay-reader it’s very clearly in the atmospheric and easy to read style and tone of her other books.
Set on the South Coast of England, a body is discovered in a country road after a town dance. There’s a small cast of characters - each of them wonderfully fleshed out both in character and physicality. There’s also all the atmosphere you expect from ECR’s books with misty nights and a very realistic countryside setting.
This reason this wasn’t published earlier was certainly not that it isn’t a good story - it’s an excellent mystery. There’s a Christie-esque twist at the end, which while more guessable than most of Christie’s has something of a Sittaford Mystery vibe to it.
I’ve been on a reading go-slow lately but I absolutely devoured this book - likeable well-developed characters, a great plot and an undiscovered ECR book - what more could you ask?
According to the foreword, ECR wrote this towards the end of her life, the original manuscript didn’t have her name on it, it doesn’t include her usual detectives and it was never published. Apparently it’s been verified as hers, and even as a lay-reader it’s very clearly in the atmospheric and easy to read style and tone of her other books.
Set on the South Coast of England, a body is discovered in a country road after a town dance. There’s a small cast of characters - each of them wonderfully fleshed out both in character and physicality. There’s also all the atmosphere you expect from ECR’s books with misty nights and a very realistic countryside setting.
This reason this wasn’t published earlier was certainly not that it isn’t a good story - it’s an excellent mystery. There’s a Christie-esque twist at the end, which while more guessable than most of Christie’s has something of a Sittaford Mystery vibe to it.
I’ve been on a reading go-slow lately but I absolutely devoured this book - likeable well-developed characters, a great plot and an undiscovered ECR book - what more could you ask?
March 1, 2022
Pretty clever mystery, written in the 1950s but published now for the first time.
The central trick that’s the key to “whodunnit” is definitely possible for a careful reader to figure out, but not so glaringly obvious as to take away the fun of deduction. The characters are not terribly memorable, but the mystery works quite well. If you’re a fan of the Golden Age atmosphere, you’ll enjoy this.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this digital review copy!
The central trick that’s the key to “whodunnit” is definitely possible for a careful reader to figure out, but not so glaringly obvious as to take away the fun of deduction. The characters are not terribly memorable, but the mystery works quite well. If you’re a fan of the Golden Age atmosphere, you’ll enjoy this.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this digital review copy!
December 3, 2023
A few years ago, a young woman was found dead at the foot of some cliffs, her death ruled as suicide. Dilys is suspicious that there was foul play and still will not walk that same road from where the woman, her friend, first disappeared. Dilys has also fallen for a man named Nick Brent and she manages to get his attention when he offers her a lift home from a dance one foggy night. Nick's car hits a body that is on the road but already dead. He sends Dilys back on foot, and goes to a local house to call the police, but he is banged on the head by a mystery man in the dark.
Edith Caroline Rivett (Lorac is a pen name)'s usual detective, Macdonald, is not present here, this is a rare stand-alone novel. A local inspector does the delving, but his investigations go round in circles, and it is left to Brent, his friend MacBane and a housekeeper, Alice Ridley, to solve the mystery.
The plot and its denouement are not the strength here, there is too much reliance on minor detail for a satisfactory conclusion. Rather, it is the set of characters, who each have some social defect, that carry the story.
Edith Caroline Rivett (Lorac is a pen name)'s usual detective, Macdonald, is not present here, this is a rare stand-alone novel. A local inspector does the delving, but his investigations go round in circles, and it is left to Brent, his friend MacBane and a housekeeper, Alice Ridley, to solve the mystery.
The plot and its denouement are not the strength here, there is too much reliance on minor detail for a satisfactory conclusion. Rather, it is the set of characters, who each have some social defect, that carry the story.
April 14, 2022
Golden Age mystery writer E.C.R. Lorac’s “Two-Way Murder” is about a number of things: the joy of dancing, family secrets, difficult parents, unhappy history between families, and a woman who captivates every man she comes into contact with (reminiscent of Helen of Troy).
When a man is found run over and dead in the middle of the road on the very foggy night of a country dance, it’s both the culmination of years of secrets and bad feelings, as well as the kick-off to an investigation with so many lies and shadings of the truth it’s hard to see how the genial Inspector Waring will ever arrive at the truth.
There are enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting, and if it hadn’t been for my reading of most of Dame Agatha’s works, I might have pointed at the wrong person as the murderer. Not that Lorac’s solution is easy to suss out; in fact, there were enough contrary statements and murky motives to keep me reading happily to the end.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.
When a man is found run over and dead in the middle of the road on the very foggy night of a country dance, it’s both the culmination of years of secrets and bad feelings, as well as the kick-off to an investigation with so many lies and shadings of the truth it’s hard to see how the genial Inspector Waring will ever arrive at the truth.
There are enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting, and if it hadn’t been for my reading of most of Dame Agatha’s works, I might have pointed at the wrong person as the murderer. Not that Lorac’s solution is easy to suss out; in fact, there were enough contrary statements and murky motives to keep me reading happily to the end.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.
March 6, 2023
So on to a Crime Classic and a bit of surprise - after all I picked this book up randomly from the latest batch of British Library classics I was surprised to discover that rather than a re-print of a classic this was in fact a totally new story never before published.
The introduction (yes I love to read those) gave a fascinating account of how and where (and a possible why) as to the unique nature of this never seen before story.
However I have to say it was great fun and rather than being a gimmick it does rightfully deserve to be back in print - the tale is a twisting story of misinformation and deceit (and no there were no spoilers) and certainly deserves its place in the series.
A pleasure to read and as always a beautiful and atmospheric cover.
The introduction (yes I love to read those) gave a fascinating account of how and where (and a possible why) as to the unique nature of this never seen before story.
However I have to say it was great fun and rather than being a gimmick it does rightfully deserve to be back in print - the tale is a twisting story of misinformation and deceit (and no there were no spoilers) and certainly deserves its place in the series.
A pleasure to read and as always a beautiful and atmospheric cover.
October 16, 2022
I am so thankful this book was found and published in 2021 - about 60 years after it was written. It concerns an English farming community on the night of the yearly Hunt Ball. It is a horrible rainy, misty night when you can hardly see out your windshield. Towards the end of the night, a body is discovered in the middle of a country lane. Always wary of police, the residents are reluctant to definitely identify the body. Also, the first person who found the murder victim goes to a nearby home to call the police. The house was locked and they had to break in to use the phone, without electricity and after dropping his flashlight, someone comes into the house thinks he is a burglar and attacks him! The incident leaves him with a concussion. This adds even more fodder to the gossip mill - did it really happen as described? Meanwhile the police are not in agreement about possible murder suspects . Put your detective cap on and enjoy the twists as new information (and misinformation) comes to light!
July 9, 2021
It is the night of the annual Hunt Ball at The Prince's Hall in Fordings. Nick Brent offers a ride to his friend Ian Macbane, but tells him he'll need to find his own way home from the Ball--as Brent has plans to drive the beautiful Dilys Maine home before midnight. The drive to the dance is uneventful--save for the fog along the way. When Brent's car makes the return trip, the fog is better and he stops just in time to avoid running over a body in the road. Since Dilys has gone to the dance without leave from her strict father, Brent sends her home over the fields while he goes in search of a telephone to report the body to the police.
When Inspector Turner reaches the site, Ian Macbane and his new driver Tom Hudson have discovered Brent's abandoned car and the body--but there is no sign of Brent. The ex-Commando comes stumbling up with blood running down his face and a torn collar. He had gone to Michael Reeves's house (nearest), knocked, and when he received no answer effected an entrance to use the phone. Immediately after ringing off he was attacked in the darkened room and, after a bit of rough house, landed up under a fallen bookcase. He believes--though is not sure--that Reeves had come home, thought he was a burglar, and jumped him. By the time he had gathered his wits, there was no one there.
There are plenty of mysteries for the police to solve. Who is the dead man? How did he get in the road? Was he killed in a hit and run or is this a more strategically planned crime? If it wasn't Michael Reeves (and he claims not), then who attacked Brent? What was Dilys's father doing roaming around that night and why does he want to make it seem that he got home sooner than he did? The rumor mills are running at full speed in the town and stories connect the incidents to everything from the disappearance in the last year of Michael Reeves's sister Rosemary to the supposed unsavory doings of Hoyle, the local pub owner. Later, Hoyle's daughter Betty is nearly killed along the same run of road--did she see something important and has the murderer attempted to shut her up?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems to me that Lorac, with her two detectives Turner and Waring, began by wanting to consider the differences in detection between those who use the intuitive, psychological method and those who are more procedure and time-table based. Or possibly showing how the two work in concert to make an excellent investigation. As Divisional District Inspector Thorn (over both men) says:
Makes you wonder what is the basis of detection, after all...Timetables or human nature? After all, criminals are human and maybe young Waring's getting back to basic detection. They ought to make a good pair. Turner with his conscientious routine. Waring with his awareness of humanity.
But then she winds up leaving the conscientious routine behind. We have one meeting with Turner, Waring, and Thorn and then the two detectives go their separate ways--Turner is off to get times and facts straight (and we really don't see him again) and the reader follows Waring as he interviews various witnesses/suspects, soaking in the atmosphere and becoming acquainted with the personalities. It's as if she considers the two types of detection briefly and then rapidly decides that the psychological approach is the best.
Not that I'm complaining. Waring is the more congenial of the two detectives (Turner has an air of sour grapes about him--feeling as he does that he belongs in the C.I.D. and not stuck out in the country). I enjoyed watching his interactions with the various characters and how quickly he gets each person's measure.
Lorac provides her usual interesting selection of persons and loads of atmosphere with the foggy roads and byways of Fordings. Even though this manuscript was found under an entirely new pseudonym, it isn't difficult for those previously acquainted with her work to recognize her style and way of conveying the atmosphere of the place. I am very thankful that Martin Edwards and the British Library found a way to bring this long lost novel into print. It is absolutely delightful and I would hate to have missed out on Lorac's final book.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
When Inspector Turner reaches the site, Ian Macbane and his new driver Tom Hudson have discovered Brent's abandoned car and the body--but there is no sign of Brent. The ex-Commando comes stumbling up with blood running down his face and a torn collar. He had gone to Michael Reeves's house (nearest), knocked, and when he received no answer effected an entrance to use the phone. Immediately after ringing off he was attacked in the darkened room and, after a bit of rough house, landed up under a fallen bookcase. He believes--though is not sure--that Reeves had come home, thought he was a burglar, and jumped him. By the time he had gathered his wits, there was no one there.
There are plenty of mysteries for the police to solve. Who is the dead man? How did he get in the road? Was he killed in a hit and run or is this a more strategically planned crime? If it wasn't Michael Reeves (and he claims not), then who attacked Brent? What was Dilys's father doing roaming around that night and why does he want to make it seem that he got home sooner than he did? The rumor mills are running at full speed in the town and stories connect the incidents to everything from the disappearance in the last year of Michael Reeves's sister Rosemary to the supposed unsavory doings of Hoyle, the local pub owner. Later, Hoyle's daughter Betty is nearly killed along the same run of road--did she see something important and has the murderer attempted to shut her up?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems to me that Lorac, with her two detectives Turner and Waring, began by wanting to consider the differences in detection between those who use the intuitive, psychological method and those who are more procedure and time-table based. Or possibly showing how the two work in concert to make an excellent investigation. As Divisional District Inspector Thorn (over both men) says:
Makes you wonder what is the basis of detection, after all...Timetables or human nature? After all, criminals are human and maybe young Waring's getting back to basic detection. They ought to make a good pair. Turner with his conscientious routine. Waring with his awareness of humanity.
But then she winds up leaving the conscientious routine behind. We have one meeting with Turner, Waring, and Thorn and then the two detectives go their separate ways--Turner is off to get times and facts straight (and we really don't see him again) and the reader follows Waring as he interviews various witnesses/suspects, soaking in the atmosphere and becoming acquainted with the personalities. It's as if she considers the two types of detection briefly and then rapidly decides that the psychological approach is the best.
Not that I'm complaining. Waring is the more congenial of the two detectives (Turner has an air of sour grapes about him--feeling as he does that he belongs in the C.I.D. and not stuck out in the country). I enjoyed watching his interactions with the various characters and how quickly he gets each person's measure.
Lorac provides her usual interesting selection of persons and loads of atmosphere with the foggy roads and byways of Fordings. Even though this manuscript was found under an entirely new pseudonym, it isn't difficult for those previously acquainted with her work to recognize her style and way of conveying the atmosphere of the place. I am very thankful that Martin Edwards and the British Library found a way to bring this long lost novel into print. It is absolutely delightful and I would hate to have missed out on Lorac's final book.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
July 7, 2024
Two-Way Murder was apparently written around 1956, but "lost" until it was published by the British Library in 2021 as by E.C.R. Lorac (1884-1958), although she'd planned to use the name "Mary Le Bourne." Thanks to Martin Edwards for his helpful Introduction. This novel doesn't feature either of Lorac's long time series detectives Inspector Macdonald or Julian Rivers. Instead we have an odd couple duo of Inspector Turner and Inspector Waring from the local police investigating a murder in the fog on a rural road near the south coast of England. This a standalone for Lorac (or her alter ego, Carol Carnac). The novel appears at least somewhat unfinished in that it could have used a final good editing to remove the last-draft evidences. Two-Way Murder also desperately needed a map of the region as much of the novel consists of repeatedly driving though a maze of rural roads and country lanes in a way that quickly becomes complicated. The novel was a step forward for Lorac in technique. She uses a shifting narrator or "detective," turning from Macbane to Turner to Waring to feisty housekeeper Alice Ridley, all of whom dig into the mystery. She also uses sets of "doubles," balancing Rosemary Reeve a powerful and terrible termagant with Dilys Maine, the quiet and obedient. There's also Inspector Turner who operates by the book, one step at a time, in comparison and contrast with Inspector Waring who's instinctive and holistic. Two-Way Murder is a clever mystery, with an interesting cast of characters, family difficulties and a little romance along with a theme on the ethics of withholding information from the police. This fits well with the work of the Golden Age group: Allingham, Christie, Marsh, and Sayers, and perhaps others like Christianna Brand, Gladys Mitchell, and Mary Roberts Rinehart who are due for rediscovery. And that's just the women! Lorac's books are a little less tidy and tight than Christie's, but she can certainly be spoken about in the greater list of UK (and US) mystery writers. [4★]
September 15, 2025
The last, and never before published, book by prolific, popular Lorac, is finally available. With a new detective and a different setting, this might have been the start of a new series. The death of an unidentified man on a foggy, little used road looks like an accident, but when former Naval commander, pub-keeper Nick is attacked when he goes to phone for help, it's clear that something else is going on. Nick's date, lovely Dilys, has gone home across the fields because her strict father didn't know she was going to the Hunt Ball. But when he comes home from his business trip, he's curiously confused. And that's only the start of the suspect list!
August 7, 2021
Lorac’s novel – which has the air of a classic Golden Age Mystery – is set in the coastal resort of Fordings in the mid-late 1950s. Local innkeeper Nicholas (Nick) Brent – an ex-Navy man in his early thirties – has offered to drive his friend, the lawyer Ian Macbane, to the Hunt Ball, the major event in Fordings’ social calendar. Macbane is down from London for the Ball, where he hopes to get the opportunity to dance with Dilys Maine, the prettiest girl in the locality. Dilys, however, has a fondness for Michael Reeve, a prickly farmer and landowner whose family has something of a chequered history.
The action gets going towards the end of the Ball when Nick drives Dilys home, just before midnight. It’s a pre-arranged departure, conveniently timed to enable Dilys to get back without her absence being detected – by either her puritanical father, Mr Maine, or the family’s housekeeper, Alice. During their journey home, Nick and Dilys come across a dead body lying in the road, at which point Nick suggests that Dilys should walk home across the fields to avoid being dragged into the inevitable investigations. To complicate matters further, Nick is then attacked while phoning the police to report the dead body. There are further suspicious goings-on too, but I’ll leave you to discover those for yourself should you decide to read the book…
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021...
The action gets going towards the end of the Ball when Nick drives Dilys home, just before midnight. It’s a pre-arranged departure, conveniently timed to enable Dilys to get back without her absence being detected – by either her puritanical father, Mr Maine, or the family’s housekeeper, Alice. During their journey home, Nick and Dilys come across a dead body lying in the road, at which point Nick suggests that Dilys should walk home across the fields to avoid being dragged into the inevitable investigations. To complicate matters further, Nick is then attacked while phoning the police to report the dead body. There are further suspicious goings-on too, but I’ll leave you to discover those for yourself should you decide to read the book…
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021...
July 12, 2022
I almost abandoned this book a few chapters in because I found it dull, but it picked up a bit after a while—probably with the introduction of Inspector Waring—and the plot and solution itself proved clever. Nothing extra-special, however.
June 25, 2024
Some mysteries start slow and build up to the crime, but this one causes you to jump in with both feet right from the beginning. I could barely put it down.
April 8, 2022
Turn back the clock to the 1950s in the vintage murder mystery, just published for the first time, Two-Way Murder.
Ian is driving his potential girlfriend, Dilys, home after the annual Hunt Ball when they find a dead body in the road. Dilys walks home before the police arrive to avoid her father finding out she has gone to the Ball without his permission. The police quickly determine that the victim was murdered. Two detectives try to solve the case with Ian’s rather incompetent assistance. There are red herrings and secrets aplenty. Even though this book was written in the 1950s, it has more of a golden age (between the two World Wars) style. The mystery is challenging. Armchair detectives will love it! 5 stars!
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Ian is driving his potential girlfriend, Dilys, home after the annual Hunt Ball when they find a dead body in the road. Dilys walks home before the police arrive to avoid her father finding out she has gone to the Ball without his permission. The police quickly determine that the victim was murdered. Two detectives try to solve the case with Ian’s rather incompetent assistance. There are red herrings and secrets aplenty. Even though this book was written in the 1950s, it has more of a golden age (between the two World Wars) style. The mystery is challenging. Armchair detectives will love it! 5 stars!
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
November 3, 2022
Dame Agatha Christie and Her Peers
Written in the mid 1950s, perhaps? As Martin Edwards informs us in his fascinating "Introduction", this BLCC novel has never appeared in print until 2021. A novel lost for over 60 years? A cozy murder mystery? With a dazzling cover that BLCC always provides? How could a "who-done-it" lover NOT read this?
Cast - 4 stars: Nicholas Brent and Ian Macbane are well-to-do bachelors (who use terms like 'jolly decent of you' and 'by Jove' and 'they were a rum lot', etc.) on their way to a Ball to view and dance with 'the lovelies' such as the very fair Dilys and her red-headed bff, Jennifer. The Reeve family has has secrets such as a missing daughter and only one, Michael, (big and rough around the edges) has hung around his birth place. Housekeeper Alice (knows all!) gets comfortable with Detective Waring. Is the Hoyle family involved in smuggling (via a path down to a hidden cove)? A relatively small main cast is just right and each character is used effectively.
Atmosphere - 3: Stellar at times. "The creamy blanket coat and a little Cossack pillbox hat on her [Jennifer] reddish curls looked just right with the gleaming beige car and its chestnut brown upholstery - and Ian ... clad in pleasant country tweeds ... " Then the Ball, pubs, foggy switchback roads and more make for a delicious read. But at a few points it felt like the 1930s, then the 1950s, and back.
Crime - 3: A hit-and-run in the fog.
Investigation - 4: Fast pace, no wasted words or repetitive scenes. Alice and Waring are a great team.
Resolution - 3: If you've read a lot of murder mysteries, you'll figure this one out early. There are no surprise twists and much in the way of romance toward the end, but nothing mushy.
Summary - 3.4: For me a one-sit read: the author keeps the pages turning. I never questioned a single motive, I found no plot holes but did enjoy the red herrings. A very good example of what a 'cozy' should be. But Edwards admits to some editing and I'm a bit suspicious about 'edited-long-lost' novels.
Written in the mid 1950s, perhaps? As Martin Edwards informs us in his fascinating "Introduction", this BLCC novel has never appeared in print until 2021. A novel lost for over 60 years? A cozy murder mystery? With a dazzling cover that BLCC always provides? How could a "who-done-it" lover NOT read this?
Cast - 4 stars: Nicholas Brent and Ian Macbane are well-to-do bachelors (who use terms like 'jolly decent of you' and 'by Jove' and 'they were a rum lot', etc.) on their way to a Ball to view and dance with 'the lovelies' such as the very fair Dilys and her red-headed bff, Jennifer. The Reeve family has has secrets such as a missing daughter and only one, Michael, (big and rough around the edges) has hung around his birth place. Housekeeper Alice (knows all!) gets comfortable with Detective Waring. Is the Hoyle family involved in smuggling (via a path down to a hidden cove)? A relatively small main cast is just right and each character is used effectively.
Atmosphere - 3: Stellar at times. "The creamy blanket coat and a little Cossack pillbox hat on her [Jennifer] reddish curls looked just right with the gleaming beige car and its chestnut brown upholstery - and Ian ... clad in pleasant country tweeds ... " Then the Ball, pubs, foggy switchback roads and more make for a delicious read. But at a few points it felt like the 1930s, then the 1950s, and back.
Crime - 3: A hit-and-run in the fog.
Investigation - 4: Fast pace, no wasted words or repetitive scenes. Alice and Waring are a great team.
Resolution - 3: If you've read a lot of murder mysteries, you'll figure this one out early. There are no surprise twists and much in the way of romance toward the end, but nothing mushy.
Summary - 3.4: For me a one-sit read: the author keeps the pages turning. I never questioned a single motive, I found no plot holes but did enjoy the red herrings. A very good example of what a 'cozy' should be. But Edwards admits to some editing and I'm a bit suspicious about 'edited-long-lost' novels.
June 23, 2023
Lorac's last book, unpublished for over sixty years, is easy to follow, with engaging characters and a mystery that has twists and turns without being too convoluted to appreciate fully. When a young couple are driving home after the local ball, they find a corpse in the middle of the road, and suspicion immediately falls on a near neighbour who comes from a family characterized in the districts as difficult and somewhat wild and nefarious. Dilys Maine, in the car with Commander Nick Brent, is the neighborhood beauty, sheltered and protected by her father - who was also out and about on the dark and very misty evening. Many suspects abound - not just the wild Reeve family and Mr. Maine - and it's Inspector Turner and Inspector Waring of the county C.I.D. who have to ferret out the identity of both the victim and the murderer. A very atmospheric, well-written story, with lots of detail about the rural setting and personalities that make the story a real treat. One of the better entries I've read in the British Library Crime Classics series.
November 23, 2023
This undiscovered manuscript, lost for about 60 years, is the second I've read by the author, and I liked it even better than Checkmate to Murder. The mystery was puzzling, the characters well differentiated, and the setting described well. Though it definitely has the feel of an older mystery the pacing and smooth reading make it feel more modern. Plus, I actually cared about the characters and worried about what would happen to them.
Unlike her other books, this one introduces a new detective - DCI Waring, who relies on his intuition and investigative abilities both to solve the case. I rated it down one star because I found the side plot line about Dilys' father unnecessary and unsatisfying. Still, I'd recommend this book to readers like me who have read all the Queens of Crime several times and are looking for other similar books to enjoy.
Unlike her other books, this one introduces a new detective - DCI Waring, who relies on his intuition and investigative abilities both to solve the case. I rated it down one star because I found the side plot line about Dilys' father unnecessary and unsatisfying. Still, I'd recommend this book to readers like me who have read all the Queens of Crime several times and are looking for other similar books to enjoy.
April 18, 2023
This was a classic, well-written mystery by the British author E.C.R. Lorac. Even more astounding, it was written by the author only a year or so before her death in the 1950s but had never been published. It remained in manuscript form until it was authenticated in 2009. It then needed some minor editing and then, of course, a publisher. All this is to say, a book written in the 1950s, edited in the 2010s and published in 2022, was more than worth the wait!
During the evening of the ball at Prince's Hall in Fording's near the coast of England, a corpse is found on the Low Road to Fording's. Soon enough, there are a lot of people with alibis as well as reasons to be pointing fingers at each other. And just who is the dead man, anyway?
I couldn't turn the pages fast enough of this book! This was so tightly written, and almost every chapter switches from character to character, so the reader keeps seeing events from a different perspective.
HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND
During the evening of the ball at Prince's Hall in Fording's near the coast of England, a corpse is found on the Low Road to Fording's. Soon enough, there are a lot of people with alibis as well as reasons to be pointing fingers at each other. And just who is the dead man, anyway?
I couldn't turn the pages fast enough of this book! This was so tightly written, and almost every chapter switches from character to character, so the reader keeps seeing events from a different perspective.
HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND
October 30, 2023
I'm a little surprised to be giving this book an enthusiastic five stars, but it earned it. I loved it - characters, plot(s), setting, history, writing, all. I never figure out whodunnit - never. So normally, my rule is that if I do figure out whodunnit, then the book can't be too great - and yet here, where my eyes popped wide open and I saw the answer, even so it's such a good solution that the rating stands.
I've seen social media polls lately about which format one likes best for their reading, and it always seems faintly heretical to say anything but paper. And I do love my actual "dead tree" books, of course. But it has to be said that if wasn't for the rise of ebooks, ECR Lorac might not have gotten a revival as she has, and I might never have come across any of her books. Powerful pros for the ebook column.
I've seen social media polls lately about which format one likes best for their reading, and it always seems faintly heretical to say anything but paper. And I do love my actual "dead tree" books, of course. But it has to be said that if wasn't for the rise of ebooks, ECR Lorac might not have gotten a revival as she has, and I might never have come across any of her books. Powerful pros for the ebook column.
December 9, 2023
I have recently discovered E.C.R. Lorac's books thanks to listening to a podcast about the golden age detective fiction era.
This is an excellent story so skillfully told with the ability to keep the reader turning the page. A whodunnit with many twists and turns. Lorac is up there with the top writers of this time period and genre.
A fantastic read and I'm looking forward to taking my next trip to the library to pick up another book of hers, I'm hooked.
This is an excellent story so skillfully told with the ability to keep the reader turning the page. A whodunnit with many twists and turns. Lorac is up there with the top writers of this time period and genre.
A fantastic read and I'm looking forward to taking my next trip to the library to pick up another book of hers, I'm hooked.
January 22, 2024
Interesting vintage era murder mystery set in Britain’s winter time, January, which is out of season for us in NZ, and is one that I’d recommend for anyone that likes a story that involves a locked room mystery: this book has no locked rooms, instead the author uses a coastal roadway. Clever.
The young woman the story centres around is not someone I ended up overly invested in, and Lorac kept, unnecessarily, repeating details.
The young woman the story centres around is not someone I ended up overly invested in, and Lorac kept, unnecessarily, repeating details.
March 5, 2023
This was an excellent mystery from the British Library Crime Collection. Brent and Dilys driving home on a foggy night find a dead body in the road. The cast of characters and suspects was large but had a great wrap up. This lost manuscript was published posthumously about 60 years after the authors death. What a fantastic find!
April 1, 2025
Very enjoyable book. I know there are many Crime Classics to be read and I am looking forward to reading them if they are as good as this one. Such a clever and intricate story So tastefully done
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