Adrian Delafield lived a reclusive life. A famed artist, he lived with his housekeeper Trimming, an overzealous controlling presence who is at odds with Delafield’s sister. But even with the tensions that visitors sense, no one is really prepared for when a visiting doctor has to break the unanswered door down only to find Delafield seriously injured and Trimming quite dead.

The house was sealed from the inside so surely it had to be an accident. Inspector Julian Rivers suspects foul play – there wouldn’t be that much of a book otherwise – but there are two slight problems. What motive could there possibly have been for the murder and how on earth did the murderer escape the house?

So this is quite a late title from Edith Carol Rivett’s Carol Carnac pseudonym – as opposed the ECR Lorac name – there were only three more after this. Generally, I‘ve preferred the Lorac titles, with the exception of the early When The Devil Was Sick. This is… well, it’s perfectly entertaining.

In some ways, it reminds me a tad of a Ngaio Marsh book. The opening set-up is excellent world-building. The third party of Jocelyn Thurby who we meet several of the cast through is very entertaining and the stories and speculations about Trimming and Delafield build nicely up to the murder.

It sags a little when Rivers shows up – he’s no Alleyn, but he’s not especially distinctive. Luckily we still have plenty of chapters involving the supporting cast without him, and as I said, there are an interesting crowd. It all trundles along to a conclusion, but I did get a feeling that we are just told the solution, rather than it being particularly deduced. And the locked room/house solution isn’t desperately exciting.

So, a mid-tier Lorac/Carnac, which is still ahead of an awful lot of mysteries out there. I’d really hope that the British Library goes back to the early Carnac titles with Inspector Ryvet next time, but in the meantime, this is still worth your time.

The Double Turn is out now from the British Library Crime Classics range. Many thanks for the review copy.