Death of an Author

A twisting tale full of wry humour and red herrings, Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac is brought back into print by British Library Publishing for the first time since 1935.

‘I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded mind.’

Vivian Lestrange – celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse – has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, it appears that crime and murder is afoot when Lestrange’s housekeeper is also found to have disappeared.

Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim, as E.C.R. Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humour and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a male author.

With copies of the first and only edition incredibly rare today, this mystery returns to print for the first time since 1935. Includes an introduction by Martin Edwards.