I would like to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy of Somebody at the Door, a police procedural set in Croxburn, a London suburb, originally published in 1943.

Henry Greyling staggers home after a train commute with several people he has angered or threatened and dies that evening in strange circumstances. Inspector Holly takes the case but is confused by the number of suspects and motives and the means. All he can do is interview the suspects until he arrives at a solution.

Somebody at the Door is an interesting novel. It is a product of its time so the war and prevailing morals inform it although Mr Postgate's atheism and left wing politics also peek through. Mr Edwards's illuminating forward expounds these themes far better than I can.

The mystery element of the novel is spot on. I lived the investigation with Inspector Holly who is mostly clueless until he realises who the perpetrator is but I had to wait until he told me. The bulk of the novel, however, is taken up with the back story of what led to the characters' putative murder of the unpleasant Henry Greyling. These stories are varied but have the common denominator of Henry Greyling being a threat to their way of life.

The detail of wartime life is fascinating and informative as only contemporary writing can be, for example my knowledge of the Home Guard is limited to childhood watching of Dad's Army, but it seems that by 1942 there was a push towards a greater professionalism and conscription.

Somebody at the Door is interesting, if slightly boring in style with an excellent mystery at the heart of it.

Originally published in 1943, “Somebody at the Door” was the author’s second of three forays into the world of crime fiction. I admired the technique of Verdict of Twelve, but did not rate it as highly as other reviewers. This novel I found somewhat tedious.

The murder is ingenious and very much in keeping with the WW2 setting. The murderee is an unpleasant councillor named Grayling who is carrying a case containing £124.

There is a potentially interesting group of suspects including a vicar, a wife and her lover, a German refugee scientist, an amorous chemist, and a petty-thief/cobbler. All have cause to dislike Grayling and some also need money. Most of them have fairly unedifying back stories. Some of these I found interminably long, especially the tale of the German refugee, or very grim.

As with “Verdict of Twelve”, in the end the backgrounds had little to do with the solving of the crime which arose from a pretty sordid and unoriginal motive.

Postgate has too many axes to grind here and the political posturing got in the way of the story which, apart from the method, was really quite straightforward. There are pot shots at established religion, publishing firms, corrupt local government and Fascism, some of which is a bit preachy in tone.

I did not much enjoy reading this. It was poorer in design and execution than “Verdict of Twelve “ and rather unrelentingly dismal in outlook. This is not for readers expecting a classic British 1940’s crime story. I kept thinking of the “News of the World “ newspaper and its sensational, salacious and titillating stories.

Martin Edwards’ Introduction gives a decent summary of the book and provides useful background on the author. Again, however, I think he overrates Postgate’s achievements as a crime writer and I may be tempted to give “The Ledger is Kept” a miss should it be republished.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen for the ARC.