This murder mystery was published in 1933 by Anthony Wynne (pseudonym for Robert McNair-Wilson: 1882-1963), a pre-eminent and prolific author of "impossible crime/ locked room" types of mysteries.This book has been republished in the British Library's "Crime Classics" series.
Physician Dr. Eustace Hailey has also gained some renown as an amateur sleuth with a record of solving tricky crimes and he is called upon while visiting a friend in the Scottish Highlands. The Procurator Fiscal calls upon his host late one night to say that Mary Gregor, the sister of the laird of Duchlan, has been murdered, but was found in a room locked from the inside and inaccessible any other way. Hailey makes a preliminary inspection but is displaced from participation in the investigation when Inspector Dundas is sent from Glasgow. What he does continue to do, however, is look into the life of Mary Gregor, who everyone claims is a saint. As it turns out, her sainthood had a dark side and many people had reason to hate her. That still doesn't explain how she was murdered, but when the first and then a subsequent inspector are also murdered, Hailey undertakes a risky plan to reveal both the means and the person who committed the crimes.
Booklist says the murder(s) are "cunningly concocted" and Publishers Weekly concludes, "Those who like black-and-white films, in which ladies and gentlemen dress for dinner and everyone has frightfully good manners, are in for a treat." Kirkus likewise lauds, "This classic British mystery, first published in 1931, has enough complex plotting and red herrings to win a new generation of fans for the largely forgotten Wynne."
No comments:
Post a Comment