Inspector Lansing - Carol Carnac

Carol Carnac is a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett.She was a prolific mystery writer from 1931 until her death in 1958. As a child she lived in both England and Australia. She is credited with creating fictional detectives Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald, Inspector Ryvet, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers, and Inspector Lansing. Some of the books overlap, featuring more than one of these characters.

Her books follow the style of the Golden Age of Mystery. They are difficult to find, and I'm still trying to determine which 18 feature Inspector Lansing (sometimes spelled Lancing). A few have been re-published as British Classics. Based on the three I have read, I'd love to find more

So far, I've only been able to find these three books, but I give them a very high rating for plot, characters, and locations.

Crossed Skis (1952)
The book begins with a group of young people who have loosely banded together to take a ski holiday to Austria by ferry and train. Sixteen people, most of whom don't really know one another travel to the ski resort.

Meanwhile, Rivers and Lansing are attempting to solve a puzzling murder in London that occurs in a boarding house. The neer-do-well son of the owner seems to be key to the solution. One of the flats caught fire, and the body of the lodger was found thrust into the gas flame so that his face and hands are too disfigured for identification. The police suspect the body is not that of the lodger.

On the ski holiday, strange events begin to happen, and the members of the party suspiciously begin sorting out who they think they can and can't trust.

The book culminates with a dangerous ski chase in a blizzard.

Murder Among Members (1955)
This is a stright-up police procedural, and is definitely not the quality of some of her other books. Inspector Lancing and Rivers are both featured, but we don't get any idea of them as personalities at all. There is a lot of London slang specific to the time period, sometimes making the book hard to follow.

A hostel has been built across from the House of Parliment so that members from the country can find decent lodgings without having to travel around London. It is a boring, no-frills, 1950s block of small flats. On a night when there are only a few MPs in residence, the assistant manager is discovered dead in a back street beside the building. He has obviously jumped from either an upper story or the roof, or more likely, was thrown down.

The rest of the book consists of the police questioning various people in classic mystery fashion. There is nothing wrong with the logic or the progression, but the book is somewhat "bare bones." It's an excellent glimpse into mid-20th-century London.

Warning- one use of a word considered inappropriate in this day and age.

Impact of Evidence (1958)

This is set in the farm country of Wales in the winter. Life is harsh, and the book does a convincing job of portraying that condition. You really can feel the hills and the snow and the horrible flood that cuts the small settlement off from the rest of the country for days.

During that time of isolation, an old man who probably shouldn't be driving is broadsided by another car when he recklessly drives in front of that car. The impacted car is pushed into the river where it is lodged. The driver of the other car, though injured, stumbles down to the closest farm to get help.

When a group of men rally under nearly impossible weather conditions to rescue the old man from the car in the river, he is determined to be dead. The huge surprise is that there is another man dead in the back seat.

The story unwinds methodically with many a suspect and potential motive. In the classic mystery tradition, the guilty party is not revealed until the very end.

Mystery Series - Roderick Alleyn

Ngaio Marsh

(Edith) Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand writer in the golden age of crime fiction. She is considered one of the top four of the era (with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham). She lived from 1895-1982.

In my opinion she's in the running for the best of the lot. Her forte is collecting a large cast of characters with relationships, animosities and ulterior motives. She usually has scenes with rooms filled with people, and the reader must pay close attention to who is saying what to whom in order to have a glimmer of the solution to the crime.

Inspector Alleyn is the police presence in all her mysteries. All but four of the books are set in England. The others are in New Zealand.

Recurring Characters of note:
Inspector (becoming Chief Inspector) Roderick Alleyn
Agatha Troy, his wife
Inspector Fox, his assistant

#1 A Man Lay Dead, 1934

#1 Enter a Murderer, 1935

#1 The Nursing Home Murder, 1935

#1 Death in Ecstasy, 1936

#1 Vintage Murder, 1937

#1 Artists in Crime, 1938

#1 Death in a White Tie, 1938

#1 Overture to Death, 1939

#1 Death at the Bar, 1940

#1 Surfeit of Lampreys/ Death of a Peer (US title), 1941
The Charles Lampreys are a family whose immediate head, Charles, is the younger brother of a peer, George. Consequently, he keeps going through money in the way he's been accustomed to live, but George is the one who inherited the family fortune. Several times, the Charles Lampreys have needed to be bailed out of financial hardship by George. Now George says (apparently), "no more."

The family is a lively bunch, currently living in a double apartment in England (after we first meet them in New Zealand). There are a pair of twins who have spent their lives joking/lying about which is which. The oldest daughter is an actress, and two younger children round out the group. Their favorite passtime is playing charades and they keep a large closet full of props and costumes. Of course there are servants.

George angrily visits after the next request for funds, but he is found in the elevator, seriously wounded by one of the famous props.

This is one of the best examples of Marsh's ability to confuse everything with a huge group of people who are experts at play-acting, and the twins make it even more complex.

#1 Death and the Dancing Footman, 1941
This is a classic Marsh set-up with a lot of characters and confusion.

Jonathan Royal invites a collection of people to his house for a party, purposely choosing guest who have serious reasons to dislike each other. His motive is to create a sort of living drama. The one dis-interested party is his friend Aubrey Mandrake, who writes plays. Jonathan is hoping that Mandrake might find inspiration for a drama in what the guests do and how they interact with each other.

As the reader you immediately know there is going to be a question of mis-identification because there are two identical Tyrolean cloaks, and four people have been known to wear them at various times. Mandrake, while wearing one of the cloaks is pushed into a pool and he cannot swim. He is rescued, but everyone is certain that whoever pushed him thought he was the owner of the cape, Nicholas.

Of course, they get snowed in. Another attempt to harm Nicholas results in him injuring his arm. The finger of guilt points squarely at a naturalized German doctor.

Then... the actual murder takes place. The footman and his antics in the hallway limit the possible suspects, although, as usual, there is so much confused activity it's difficult to sort.

Alleyn is brought over from the town when a car finally manages to get through the drifts to reach him at Chipping, although the roads are still too snowed in to reach Great Chipping where the regular police station is.

#1 Colour Scheme, 1943

#1 Died in the Wool, 1945

#1 Final Curtain, 1947

#1 Swing Brother Swing/ A Wreath for Rivera (US title), 1949

#1 Opening Night, 1951

#1 Spinsters in Jeopardy/ The Bride of Death (US abridged version), 1953

#1 Scales of Justice, 1955

#1 Off With His Head/ Death of a Fool, 1956

#1 Singing in the Shrouds, 1958

#1 False Scent, 1959

#1 Hand in Glove, 1962

#1 Dead Water, 1963

#1 Death at the Dolphin/ Killer Dolphin (US title), 1966

#1 Clutch of Constables, 1968

#1 When in Rome, 1970

#1 Tied Up in Tinsel, 1972

#1 Black As He's Painted, 1974

#1 Last Ditch, 1977

#1 Grave Mistake, 1978

#1 Photo Finish, 1980

#1 Light Thickens, 1982

Mystery Series - Beverly Gray

dust jacket of Beverly Gray, Senior

The Beverly Gray mysteries were written over the time period of 1933- 1955. It is a series of 25 books, similar to the Nancy Drew books, but the girls are college age and young adults. The first four books take Beverly Gray through Vernon college with Beverly Gray, Freshman, then Sophomore, Junior and Senior The author is Clair Blank, and the first four books were published when she was only 18, just out of high school. The series continued until her death in 1955.

#1 Beverly Gray, Freshman, 1933

#2 Beverly Gray, Sophomore, 1933

#3 Beverly Gray, Junior, 1933

#4 Beverly Gray, Senior, 1933
This story is definitely a period piece, and clearly written for girls. The emphasis is on the social aspects of college life, although I give it some credit for lines like, "I've so many plans and hopes for the future. I want a career. I wnat to do something-- I don't think I could be content if I settled down now and threw all those dreams aside." The mystery itself is a bit thin with a plot including the kidnapping of a classmate who has been hired to star in a motion picture.

The primary emphasis of the plot is the changes in the girl's relationships as the "movie star" becomes something of a snob. Graduation brings a bittersweet ending to the girls' "club." However, the book is well-written and fits into the genre and the time period well.

#5 Beverly Gray's Career, 1935

#6 Beverly Gray at the World's Fair, 1935

#7 Beverly Gray on a World Cruise, 1936

#8 Beverly Gray in the Orient, 1937

#9 Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt, 1938

#10 Beverly Gray's Return, 1940

#11 Beverly Gray, Reporter, 1940

#12 Beverly Gray's Romance, 1941

#13 Beverly Gray's Problem, 1943

#14 Beverly Gray's Quest, 1945

#15 Beverly Gray's Assignment, 1947

#16 Beverly Gray's Adventure, 1944

#17 Beverly Gray's Challenge, 1945

#18 Beverly Gray's Journey, 1946

#19 Beverly Gray's Mystery, 1948

#20 Beverly Gray's Vacation, 1949

#21 Beverly Gray's Fortune, 1950

#22 Beverly Gray's Secret, 1951

#23 Beverly Gray's Island Adventure, 1952

#24 Beverly Gray's Discovery, 1953

#25 Beverly Gray's Surprise, 1955

Clair Blank

I found it extremelly interesting that the back cover of the "Senior" dust jacket advertizes the Judy Bolton mysteries. And even more interesting to me is the back flap has the seven Melody Lane mysteries, which are some of my favorites of the time period.