GARLAND LORD – Homicide with Love. William Morrow, hardcover, 1943. Detective E book Membership, hardcover reprint, 3-in-1 version. Inexperienced #4, digest-sized paperback, circa 1945.
What I’m going to do first, relatively than do the analysis as soon as once more as to who the creator of this relatively good thriller novel is, or was, is to repeat the primary paragraph of my evaluation of their novel, Homicide Plain and Fancy, printed the identical yr. The 2 books had been, not my evaluation. Go right here to learn the whole evaluation, and be sure you comply with up by studying the feedback as effectively.
“Garland Lord was the joint pen title of husband and spouse Isabel Garland (1903-1988) and Mindret Lord (1903-1955). They wrote 4 books collectively below this title, none with sequence characters, the primary three for Doubleday’s Crime Membership imprint. Isabel additionally wrote one ebook below her personal title, apparently earlier than they determined to crew up collectively.”
It’s troublesome to say the place this ebook takes place, geographically, however aside from a couple of pages at a neighbor’s house, the entire motion takes place in an outdated mansion with numerous rooms and servants, with an aged patriarch in cost. Add rich to that temporary description, and that sums him up greater than adequately, I believe.
And what he has completed is name collectively a conclave of household and buddies (together with would-be lovers), with an impending announcement involving a brand new will that he has in thoughts. This isn’t a good suggestion, particularly in thriller novels. And so it occurs right here, though it’s not the outdated man who dies, though the try is made.
Among the many company, the person on the prime (not a miserably stingy fellow, by the way in which) has an estranged daughter who has come, and two adopted daughters, certainly one of whom, named Roncevald, or Roncie for brief. It’s she who tells the story that follows, which does embrace two deaths, in addition to a number of unusual occasions, with Roncie the goal of an obvious frame-up for the deeds.
The thriller is an effective one, and the true killer might come as a shock, until you studying and learning the story extra carefully than I used to be, because the clues are there, kind of. When you concentrate on the title, you additionally also needs to not be terribly stunned if I inform you there’s nearly as a lot romance within the story as there’s detection, of which there’s lower than you may suppose.
Uncommon occasions occur, and whereas the members are definitely conscious of them, life does go on, as greatest it may well. Garland Lord appears to have had the knack of constructing that occur, and make it appear pure. I loved this one.
