Author: Carol Carnac
Originally published in 1953, this edition was published in 2025 by The British Library
Category: Historical, Crime Fiction
The Ministry of Fine Arts, which was created after the end of WWII, is the setting for this book and it’s obvious from the outset that the author is knowledgable about art, and there are several subtle digs and witty observations directed at the modern art movement. The newly appointed Minister Humphry David, hadn’t wanted the job and, although he was passionate about the arts, he disliked the pretentiousness which often accompanied it.
Not long after David’s appointment he invited a friend, Henry Fearon, an employee at Scotland Yard who was an expert on forgeries, to visit him because he had suspicions that some of the files had been tampered with or even falsified.
The deputy Permanent Secretary, Edwin Pompfret, was generally disliked and/or made fun of because of his pompous and know-it-all attitude. When he was found dead, crushed by the huge bust which he had despised, his death was thought to be an accident. However, suspicion that he had in fact been murdered seemed to quash the accident theory.
Together they lay at the foot of the noblest state staircase in London: both with broken necks.
Chief Detective Inspector Julian Rivers is called in to investigate. There’s quite a long list of possible suspects, quite difficult to keep track of, and the mystery is a ‘how done it’ as well as a ‘who done it’ exploring several ways in which the murder may have been committed.
I’ve read two other books by E.C.R. Lorac writing as Carol Carnac which I thoroughly enjoyed. This one didn’t hold my interest nearly as much initially, which was I think, due in part to the subject matter. The book was written well, as always, but there wasn’t much action, and included a lot of information about the Ministry itself, making it quite a slow read. And I thought the conclusion to the murder/mystery took rather a circuitous and complicated route.
This book was provided by The British Library for review purposes.
When a civil servant at the newly formed Ministry of Fine Arts is found crushed beneath a monstrous marble bust after dark, it appears to be the third instance in a string of fatal accidents at the department. Already disturbed by rumours of forgeries and irregularities in the Ministry’s dealings, Minister Humphry David is soon faced with the possibility that among his colleagues is a murderer – though how the bust could have been made an instrument of death is a masterstroke of criminal devilment. Taking charge of the case, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard enters a caustic world of fine art and civil service grievances to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight.
