Inspector Robert Macdonald Series by E. C. R. Lorac
Inspector Robert Macdonald #22
Rope's End, Rogue's End
E. C. R. Lorac
WULFSTANE MANOR, a rambling old country house with many unused rooms, winding staircases and a maze of cellars, had been bequeathed to Veronica Mallowood and her brother Martin. The last time the large family of Mallowoods had all foregathered under the ancestral roof was on the occasion of their father’s funeral, and there had been one of those unholy rows which are infrequently follow the reading of a will. That was some years ago, and as Veronica found it increasingly difficult to go on paying for the upkeep of Wulfstane she summoned another family conference—a conference in which Death took a hand. Rope’s End—Rogue’s End is, of course, an Inspector Macdonald case, in which that popular detective plays a brilliant part. It is a first rate story with an enthralling denouement.
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Inspector Robert Macdonald #28
The Theft of the Iron Dogs
E. C. R. Lorac
GILES HOGGETT viewed the flooding of his native Lancashire dales that September morning with secret pleasure. With the rain coming down in sheets he had a good excuse for fishing. He had to give some reason to his wife for braving the weather when farming was impossible, so he said he was going to take a look at their summer cottage, and because, although an angler, he was a truthful man, he did so before even glimpsing the river. There he made a discovery that temporarily made him forget all else—he noticed two iron dogs were missing from the fireplace, as well as a complete reel of salmon line, a strong chain and hook, a clothesline and a large sack . . . a significant haul if one imagined someone wanting to sink a heavy article safe and deep in the waters of the Lune. E. C. R. Lorac has again selected as background to a fascinating mystery the beautiful fell country of Lunesdale in Lancashire.
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Inspector Robert Macdonald #35
Murder of a Martinet
E. C. R. Lorac
For a long time Muriel Farrington had ruled the lives of her children, gathering them all together, married or single, under the same roof in the old family mansion. She made a fetish of getting her own way, and liked to do it gracefully if possible, but if there was any resistance she could always rely on the subtle effects of the time-honoured heart attack. Self-satisfied, and selfish beyond belief, she did not sense the bitter resentment that burned in the breasts of her family, and was far from realising the point of desperation reached by one of them, a desperation which was leading inexorably to her own destruction. For Chief-Inspector Macdonald this was not one of the easy cases, but it is one of E. C. R. Lorac’s best.
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Inspector Robert Macdonald #37
Murder in the Mill-Race
E. C. R. Lorac
ANNE FERENS liked practically everything about Milham in the Moor where she and her husband, Dr. Raymond Ferens, were to live. But she loathed Monica Torrington, warden of the children’s home, at first sight. Sister Monica, as she was called, was a macabre figure, her height accentuated by the ancient, black nurse’s uniform she wore. She had the dark, unsmiling eves of a fanatic, and Anne was convinced that she was a wicked, wicked woman—one who shouldn’t have small children in her charge.Dr. Raymond Ferens warned Anne not to meddle. Sister Monica was considered a “saint” and she was an unholy power in the village. Still there were furtive rumours—rumours that connected her with the strange death of Nancy Hilton, one of her maids. But as the voting bailiff told Anne, “The village cherishes its own feuds and loyalties and way of life ... but when you make enemies in a village like this, you don’t murder one another...”The bailiff’s philosophy was proved inadequate. The drowned body of Sister Monica was found floating in the millpool. Chief Inspector Macdonald was called in to solve one of the most difficult cases of his career as he unravelled the hidden events and causes that led to the death of a “saint.”
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Inspector Robert Macdonald #46
Dishonour Among Thieves
E. C. R. Lorac
Behind the dank confining walls of Dartmoor Prison young Rory Macshane collected the strange items—sugar, needle and thread, bits of leather—that would aid him in his cleverly contrived break. Then on a foggy winter morning a fight in the work area distracted the guards, and Rory slipped into the chill mist that hung over the moors and disappeared.Two months later the residents of the serene fell country to the north—where Superintendent MacDonald, C.I.D., had retired—were alarmed by scattered evidence of an unknown visitor, recalling a terrifying, long-forgotten past. It was a past from which there could be no escape—not for the retired MacDonald, not even for the elusive Rory Macshane.
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