 First edition | |
| Author | E.C.R. Lorac |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | J.Z. Atkinson |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Chief Inspector MacDonald |
| Genre | Detective |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club Arcadia House (US) |
Publication date | 1944 |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Fell Murder |
| Followed by | Murder by Matchlight |
Checkmate to Murder is a 1944 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett.[1] It was the twenty fifth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard.[2] Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2020 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Synopsis
On a foggy night during the London Blitz, a special constable arrests a young Canadian soldier standing over the dead body of his elderly great uncle in a rundown house in Hampstead. The only other possible suspects are the inhabitants of the art studio next door, a celebrated painter, his sister and their various guests. However as MacDonald and his assistant Inspector Reeves begin to investigate a number of other possible suspects and motives emerge, including the special constable himself.
References
Bibliography
- Nichols, Victoria & Thompson, Susan. Silk Stalkings: More Women Write of Murder. Scarecrow Press, 1998.
- Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.