The Christmas tree is such a centrepiece of the home at this time of year. Lights, baubles, a star (or occasionally a fairy) on the top are all commonplace. Less common is a dead body stuck in the middle of the tree, electrocuted by those new-fangled electric lights.

Dimpson “Dimpsie” McCabe, the famous playwright, has invited friends for Christmas on his private Scottish island, but when Doctor Harley and Katherine Mickey arrive, they discover his body. Accidental death is the verdict, but later, in London, another of the party is found dead, this time definitely murdered. Can Inspector Smith get to the bottom of things?

First of all, if you’re after a Christmas mystery, full of Christmas spirit and murderous festivities, then I should warn you that this isn’t it. The opening scene is at a Christmas party but the majority of the book takes place around the London theatre scene long after the season has passed.

This is one of two mystery novels written by Elizabeth Anthony aka Barbara Rubein and it’s a perfectly competent novel. I’ll be honest, it didn’t grab me, but theatre mysteries often don’t. There’s not an awful lot of detection – it’s as if the author couldn’t decide if they wanted Katherine or Inspector Smith to solve the mystery, but neither of them get an awful lot of page time, with focus moving around the various suspects.

Bonus points for one of the, um, finest examples of a Golden Age meeting-to-proposal-in-the-space-of-one-book (page 218), a great introduction by Martin Edwards and a suitably dramatic finale, but I was hoping for something a little more Christmassy…