Thu 16 Mar 2023
An Archived Review by Maryell Cleary: E. C. R. LORAC – Fire in the Thatch.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[3] Comments
E. C. R. LORAC – Fire in the Thatch. Chief Inspector MacDonald #27. Collins, UK, hardcover, 1946. Mystery House, US, hardcover, 1946. Chief Inspector MacDonald Poisoned Pen Press (British Library Crime Classics), US, softcover, 2018.
Chief Inspector MacDonald goes to Devon to investigate the apparently accidental death of an ex-Navy man in a fire which his thatched cottage home. The local police and coroner are satisfied as to accident, but the man’s former commanding officer raises questions.
MacDonald finds good reasons why the fire is not likely to have been accidental, but no motives for murder. The dead man, Nicholas Vaughn, was well-liked by his landlord and neighbors. He was a hard-working man who loved the country and was making a go of farming his small bit of land. He was happy and was looking forward to getting married. Only a Londoner, looking for property to buy in the area, had any grudge against Vaughn, and then only a slight one.
The careful detective work, a few interesting characters – particularly Ali, the evacuee boy – and the contrast between London and the country make this book worth reading. Lorac has committed a cardinal sin, to my way of thinking, however, in killing off a character just as I was getting to know and like him.
March 16th, 2023 at 8:44 pm
I have read one of the Inspector MacDonalds, Shroud of Darkness (#40), published in 1954 and set in what appears to be the Great London Fog of 1952. Pip of a book! Basically Lorac had me at “London fogâ€, but the novel lived up to the expectation. I have Bats in the Belfry (#13) ready on my iPad.
March 16th, 2023 at 9:03 pm
Lorac was a very good detective story writer. I wish I’d had he chance to read more of her books over the years, but most of them were very hard to find. It’s great that quite a few of them are available again, thanks to the fine people who are reprinting them as British Library Crime Classics, which they most definitely are.
March 17th, 2023 at 7:29 pm
The BLCC has pulled Lorac out of close to obscurity, and it is good to have both the MacDonald novels and other works available to read. They hold up well.