Forgotten Book - The Double Turn

Whether writing as E.C.R. Lorac or Carol Carnac (or as Mary Le Bourne in the case of her posthumously published Two-Way Murder), Carol Rivett kept up an impressive standard of crime writing to the end of her life. Someone who writes so prolifically for so long is bound to have the occasional misfire, but several of her very best books were written during the 1950s, and although some are (at least now) fairly well-known, others remain obscure.

What is more, her powers of invention do not seem to me to have diminished over the years. A little-known example of her qualities as a writer is The Double Turn, a novel published under the name Carol Carnac in 1956, just two years before her death and known in the US as The Late Miss Trimming. This is another case for the likeable Chief Inspector Rivers and I found it very enjoyable.

The starting point for the story is - as in several of her books - the world of art. The opening chapter is set at an exhibition sponsored by the Central Arts Committee 'in aid of aged and indigent painters' and it introduces us to several key characters, including the lovely artist Susan Truby, her uncle Jocelyn, and two young men who admire Susan; we also get to hear about Adrian Delafield, a veteran artist whom Jocelyn knew but whose work has now gone out of fashion. Adrian is now looked after by a formidable but highly eccentric old woman called Trimming, while his daughter Virgilia lives in a studio adjoining her home.

Before long, we're confronted with an unexpected death, and it seems to be an accident. Rather surprisingly, I thought, given the slender evidence to the contrary, the police deem the death to be suspicious and Rivers is called in. There's an 'impossible crime' element to this story, but Lorac was no John Dickson Carr; her focus is on character and the book is none the worse for that. A strange misprint (I think it must be a misprint) in my copy seemed to give a strong hint to the solution to the puzzle, something I've not encountered previously. But overall this is a example of Lorac/Carnac in very good form.