Murder in the Mill-Race: A Devon Mystery (British Library Crime Classics)

by E C R Lorac

Martin Edwards (Introduction)

When Dr Raymond Ferens moves to a practice at Milham in the Moor in North Devon, he and his wife are enchanted with the beautiful hilltop village lying so close to moor and sky. At first they see only its charm, but soon they begin to uncover its secrets - envy, hatred and malice.

Everyone says that Sister Monica, warden of a children's home, is a saint - but is she? A few months after the Ferens' arrival her body is found drowned in the mill race. Chief Inspector Macdonald faces one of his most difficult cases in a village determined not to betray its dark secrets to a stranger.

• ISBN13: 9780712352680
• Publish Date: 1 May 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: British Library Publishing
• Format: Paperback
• Language: English

Reviews

[Aidan Brack (Mysteries Ahoy)]

I think it’s fair to say that Murder in the Mill-Race exceeded my expectations by being a pretty solid case, even if the telling of that story was, at times, a little dry.

Read my full review at Mysteries Ahoy!

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Murder in the Mill-Race is a re-release of a classic golden age mystery by E.C.R. Lorac published in the British Library Crime Classics series by Poisoned Pen Press. Originally released in 1952 as Speak Justly of the Dead, this is the 36th book featuring Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald. Reformatted and re-released 6th August 2019, it's 256 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. Many (most?) of these re-printings include an erudite and thoughtful introduction by mystery maven Martin Edwards and this one is no exception. It's always worth the price of admission to read Mr. Edwards' background information and context notes for these volumes.

This is a classic post WW2 mystery set in in an isolated small village in Devon. The sudden death of the fearsome and draconian do-gooder who's the local matron of the orphan charity school necessitates the intervention of the police and Reeves and MacDonald are called in to solve the case. There are hidden motives and interrelationships among the residents which come to light gradually over time.

The author was remarkably talented at descriptive prose and the sense of setting, the moors, the village, the people, are all finely drawn. The local accents can be a bit over the top, but they are faithfully rendered. It's nice to read about a married couple, the young doctor and his wife who move into the village, who are genuinely fond of one another. I enjoyed reading their interactions with one another.

This is a solidly entertaining mystery and it wears its age (65+ years) surprisingly well.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.