I thoroughly enjoyed Murder by Matchlight. I’ve read two other books by E C R Lorac, Bats in the Belfry and Fire in the Thatch, both of which I enjoyed, but I think this is my favourite of the three.

The setting is London in 1945, in the darkness of the blackout as the bombs are still falling. A murder takes place in almost complete darkness in Regent’s Park, witnessed by Bruce Mallaig who heard it happen and briefly saw both the victim and his assailant by the light of a struck match. It is not only darkness that shrouds the mystery – who is the victim? He carried an identity card, but it seems it was not his – so who is he and who is the other man Bruce glimpsed on the bridge, a ‘dark flushed heavy-jowled chap’? In addition there are two other witnesses – a man standing below the bridge and a doctor who was walking his dog in the park and heard the noise and came to see what had happened. Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald is put in charge of the investigation.

The victim’s address on the identity card he carried was a house in Notting Hill Gate that had been divided into six self-contained flats, with a resident caretaker. The other tenants were colourful characters mostly variety performers, including Mr and Mrs Rameses who were conjurers and illusionists. None of them knew much about the victim, who appeared to have been a loner, with no friends or family and when the police searched his room they couldn’t find anything to help identify him. So, the police have to rely on the witness statements, checking alibis and a reconstruction of the crime scene.

Murder by Matchlight has a tightly constructed and intricate plot, full of twists and turns and red herrings before Macdonald can ease out all the strands to discover the identity of the murderer and the culprit’s motivation. It is a quick read, but I didn’t find it easy to work out the solution. One of Lorac’s strengths is her descriptive writing and in this book I was struck by the detail it gives of life during the Second World War for the people at home, their spirit despite the destruction and at the same time the opportunities for crime the blackout provided.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for a review copy via NetGalley.

Before I already read two novels by Lorac and I doubt picking up any more will change my opinion much: She was a fairly competent writer but also very clearly a prolific one. Which in her case means three or more books a year. There’s not much depth to her characters and no big surprises in the story line. It’s a mystery that takes you from point A – a murder – to point B – the person whodunit – without any detours.

If you don’t demand more than that, you could still do much worse than Murder by Matchlight. Because, while it doesn’t re-invent the mystery genre, it still does something somewhat unusual and sets it in London during the 2nd World War, completely with blackouts and air raids. And the rare setting isn’t just used as window dressing ; the whole plot – from motive to method – only works because of it.

So, is it a masterpiece? No. But so far it is the Lorac book, I’m most likely to recommend.

This was my first mystery written by E.C.R. Lorac and I was very impressed!

Although this is an old fashioned mystery, the book was easy to read and in some respects didn’t seem as dated as I would have expected. It was a police procedural set in London during WW2 and the author's descriptions of that time added a great sense of atmosphere to this novel. The mystery itself was very well plotted and the novel was eloquently written. The characters were brilliantly drawn and all were pretty likeable. I loved the surprising and perfectly plausible ending.

I would recommend this engaging and very enjoyable vintage mystery.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Murder by Matchlight is a reformat and re-release of a golden age British murder mystery by E.C.R. Lorac. First released in 1945, this edition from Poisoned Pen Press was released 5th March 2019. It's 264 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. This book is one of the books in the British Library Crime Classics series and it's really nice to see these gems being brought back into print and presented to new readers.

As the others in the series, there is an introduction by mystery history maven Martin Edwards. As engaging as these classic mysteries have been, I have also looked forward in equal measure to Mr. Edwards' insightful commentary.

This mystery may well be my favorite by this author. It's cleverly constructed and written in a classic format. The murder victim is a widely despised "ne'er-do-well". The clues (and red herrings) are presented by the rules and the plotting, dialogue, and denouement are satisfying. The murder takes place during a London blackout during WW2 and the sense of place and atmosphere are palpable. The author makes some interesting points about the murder of one despicable man against the backdrop of WW2 and the blitz.

This is a relatively short novel and this edition also includes a short story from 1953, "Permanent Policeman" which is well plotted and also enjoyable.

Nicely diverting worthy mysteries. Five stars.

Following the usual first class introduction from Martin Edwards comes an atmospheric, tightly woven mystery from the Golden Age - a genuine puzzle, perfectly plotted, well written with succinct characterisation. A most satisfying read.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for this ARC.

A very enjoyable read. I will now hunt down the other books in this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid murder mystery which is set during WWII. For the most, there are interesting, developed characters and an effective use of atmosphere gives a good idea of life at the time. The mystery itself is fairly standard of its type. There are no unexpected twists and the story reaches a satisfactory conclusion, albeit with a few minor loose ends.

"Murder by Matchlight" is a fine mystery work by E.C.R. Lorac. There are only, to date, three titles by the author being republished albeit she was a prolific mystery writer of her time. E.C.R. Lorac was an extremely capable mystery writer. The three books, including "Murder by Matchlight," all offer different surprises and distinct elements for readers of the genre. "Murder by Matchlight," however, is a slight disappointment somewhat.

I loved ALL the characters, the premises, the intriguing murder case and the historical backdrop. Set during the war time London, a scoundrel was murdered during blackout. Two witnesses and people remotely related to the blighter were being investigated in order to establish the possible links to the deceased. Many odd coincidences, persistent sleuth works, and manipulated psychological games led the inspector to put the missing pieces together. An exciting plot, a true page turner until the very last chapter. The outcome of the case and the execution of the murder were huge letdowns. When the construction of the plot was extremely puzzling, my hope for the wow ending was just as high. 90% of the book was extremely well written, just the last 10% left me unsatisfied.

It's a book that worth more than a 3.5-star rating but not yet a 4. Considering the author managed to keep my mind occupied for majority of the time, and I adored the historical tidbit about the war time London, I still recommend this title to fans who love mystery oldies. The major redeeming quality, however, was the impeccable creations of the characters. A most vivid set of witnesses, suspects, officers and so forth made "Murder by Matchlight" a delightful read.

As a fan of British golden age mysteries, I had high hopes for this book. But Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers have spoiled me and I found this mediocre, especially the ending.

Murder by Matchlight features Scotland Yard’s imperturbable Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, who is tasked with finding the killer of the man on the bridge. His only evidence: a set of bicycle tracks that come to an abrupt end. His suspects: a colorful cast that includes the shy, soft-spoken witness, a respected London physician, a screenwriter, an unemployed laborer, and a vaudevillian specializing in illusions.

This is the first of Lorac’s MacDonald mysteries I’ve read. MacDonald is a good character, smart, kind, a gentleman. He’s got several cops who work for him who have their own characteristics. But they are all honest and good at their jobs.

The job is not easy. The dead man lived in a boarding house along with several “theater” people. The suspects are definitely more interesting than the detective.

What makes Murder by Matchlight stand out is the war time London setting. The blackout restrictions and Nazi bombings are integral to the plot. It’s neat to see how normal life goes on during wartime. The theater stays open, the cops keep investigating, the restaurants continue serving, but you try to save your silk stocking when your building catches on fire because it’s nigh impossible to get new ones. Most mysteries I read from the era don’t show us quite as detailed a picture of how normal, everyday people were affected.

Edith Rivett, who wrote this book under the pseudonym E. C. R. Lorac was a prolific mystery author in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. She has a highly artificial style. Each book opens with a wildly melodramatic murder. There is an inventive but improbable investigation by police (usually as in this one by Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald assisted by Detective Inspector Reeves). The reader is treated to obviously telegraphed clues, which are often repeated for emphasis. The murderer is captured or killed, and someone explains the overelaborate plot to one of the slower characters.

The best parts of the books are the colorful, if not very credible, cast of characters. This one includes a sharp-tongued octogenarian housekeeper, a fussy historical expert, an extroverted antiques dealer, a charming rogue actor, a talented illusionist couple and many others. Even some of the minor characters are memorable.

The mysteries are usually unsatisfying. The spectacular features which make the crimes unusual or puzzling seldom figure into the conclusion. In this one, as in many of her books, they are entirely unexplained. She will often invent information for her solution that was not given to the reader, in this one she pulls out a fictitious scientific fact. Her solutions often have holes, this one requires the reader to accept a number of extremely improbable coincidences, on top of the psychotically overcomplicated murder plot. In fact, this actually follows the conventions of a manor house mystery, in which the isolated house limits the pool of suspects to a small, well-defined group. However the mystery is set in the middle of London, so there is no reason to concentrate on the small group.

The story is set in London, in November 1944. Surprisingly for a book published in 1945 it gets a lot of facts wrong. For example, by November 1944 only rockets were falling on London, the air raids described in the book ended in May 1941 (there were some air raids from January to May 1944, but they did not achieve the level of devastation described in the book). The book does describe accurately the difficulty of navigating in blacked-out London, but not the strict rationing. The police procedure is entirely fictional. Whenever a scene requires details about London at the time, the author skips quickly over it with generalities. Edith Rivett was evacuated from London for the war, and presumably relied upon some dated and incomplete second-hand reports.

Today this book has mainly historical interest, but some readers may find it worthwhile for the parade of characters.

Oh, I do like Poisoned Pen Press! I have a standing order with my local bookshop to get me every British Library Crime Classic as it’s published. Sadly, I don’t have time to read them all (I have over fifty on my “to read” pile) but receiving an ARC copy of Murder by Matchlight from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley for review nudged me into pulling this one off the pile and reading it.

As usual with these BL Crime Classics, it has an introduction by Martin Edwards. He is extremely knowledgeable about Golden Age detective stories and is always well worth reading. As well as the novel (first published in 1945), the book also has a very rare short story by Lorac: Permanent Policeman from 1953.

Bruce Mallaig is wandering in a London park during the blackout of the Second World War, cheesed off because his date couldn’t join him for dinner. He sees someone flashing a dim torch on a bridge and then hears them climbing over the railings to hide underneath. A few minutes later, an Irishman walks onto the bridge and asks “Anyone about”. He lights and smokes a cigarette but as he strikes a match to light a second, Bruce sees a face behind him and the Irishman is struck dead. Bruce runs out and grabs the man hiding under the bridge on the assumption that he is the murderer. Chief Inspector MacDonald from Scotland Yard takes charge of the investigation.

The novel is very atmospheric. One gets a sense of what it was like to live in darkness with external lights forbidden during the war. There is an air-raid during the book and a bomb comes down as MacDonald is interviewing witnesses. Rather than running out of the house (as I suspect I would have done without hesitation), the characters take it in their stride.

This was the first ECR Lorac novel I have read, although I have a few others in that “to read” pile. I was very impressed. The characters are beautifully depicted with suspicion falling on several people in turn. However, there were perhaps a few too many characters, some of whom could have been excised without diminishing the novel. That excellent reviewer, Ceric7, has described ECR Lorac as “firmly placed in the second rank of writers” and I think I must agree. A better writer would have edited the novel before publication, removing some of the bit players and tightening it all up. The book is still very well worth reading, though…

#MurderByMatchlight #NetGalley

Murder by Matchlight is a classic whodunnit with a bit of howdunnit as a bonus. It takes place in World War II London when the Germans were bombing the city. There was a tenuous quality to life and it is deeply present in the story–the obvious risk that at any moment your home or your life may be lost to a bomb. The murder happened at night in the darkness of the London blackout and was witnessed by two people. Their separate stories were outlandish and reported from very different perspectives, but tallied in ways that led Chief inspector MacDonald to think they might be telling the truth, unlikely as their truths seemed.

Figuring out how they could be telling the truth is the howdunnit and MacDonald and his team hit upon a possible solution rather quickly but that doesn’t necessarily lead to the killer. Meanwhile, through the hard slog of interviews and canvassing, they find out more and more about their murder victim, hoping to find the solution in his history. This was a story about fact-finding, but also intuition. MacDonald was presented with more than one easy solution that would, in lesser hands, result in an arrest, even conviction thanks to circumstantial evidence, no further investigation, and complete injustice. Today, police infamously stop investigating as soon as they find enough evidence to hang it on someone…and they make a lot of work for the Innocence Project for that reason.

I found myself loving Murder by Matchlight for several reasons. First, it was scrupulously fair, but not the least bit easy to solve. Second, there was plenty of misdirection with more than one motive, more than one suspect, and reasons for suspecting one and all. Third, Lorac did not once try to make it cute. The war was serious and murder was serious. Fourth, in a great rejection of vigilantism, when one person suggests perhaps the death of a ne’er-do-well was not that important considering the War, he is soundly rebuked by the argument that vigilantism is the road to fascism. Fifth, the mystery was complex and multi-layered. It was thoroughly satisfying even though I did not begin to suspect the resolution until it was just about in hand.

It was not flawless, one character took the revelation of who the killer was with far too much equanimity, but other than that, I loved this book for its seriousness of purpose and detailed attention. It had the right mix of investigation and intuition, which should always be mostly investigation. I hope there are several more to read.

I received a copy of Murder by Matchlight from the publisher through NetGalley.

Murder by Matchlight at Poisoned Pen Press
E. C. R. Lorac at Wikipedia

A brief glimpse into London during the blackouts, that also happens to include the murder and attempted murder of several thoroughly rotten characters. There's a lot of not overly subtle indictments against those who could not or would not keep the wartime, chin up spirit here, and the usual class and nationality biases of the time are sprinkled throughout, but the core mystery is interesting (as long as one thinks of time as a flat circle)and Ms. Lorac has a lovely hand at character description, so I recommend for sure.

Edith Caroline Rivett (1894–1958) wrote British crime procedurals under the alias of E. C. R. Lorac from 1931 through 1959. She also had other alias to her credit. The early books were published by the Collins Crime Club in London, and this particular book has been republished by a couple of publishers. I am thrilled to have been exposed to this author and hope to see many more of her novels back in print.

Murder by Matchlight is a very special book. Written and published during the war years in London, you get a very clear, precise telling of the effects of the war on the people of London in particular and the whole of England in general. We have been exposed to the depravations in the kitchens of the war, and lack of clothing, proper medical care in many historical novels covering these war years. The difficulties of the police protecting people and investigating crimes among the V1 and incendiary bombs and nightly blackouts comes through loud and clear in Murder by Matchlight. As does the bravery and 'stiff upper lip' of the everyday Londoner.

The characters in this novel are unique and a timely high note. I appreciated all the residents in the boarding house run by Mrs. Maloney as well as Mrs. Maloney herself - she was a hoot. And the police are well rounded, positive people there to help one and all. Altogether an excellent read and a nostalgic look into the past.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, E.C.R. Lorac and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

On a dark night during wartime London a man is sitting on a bench in Regent's Park. When he notices another man approach the nearby bridge and climb below it. Minutes later another man approaches and stands on the bridge. But within a few minutes the second man is dead. It is up to Chief Inspector MacDonald to unravel the clues and find the murderer and the motive.
Originally written in 1945.
Quite a few interesting characters in this story, an easy well-written read and with a satisfying mystery.

A man sits alone on a bench in London’s Regent Park during a blackout in 1945. Soon two other men, unaware of the fact that they are being watched, enter the scene. A match is struck and, in the quick flare of its flame, a fourth man’s face appears. Seconds later a scuffle occurs, one of the men lies dead—and another case has begun for E.C.R. Lorac’s Inspector Macdonald, complete with an eccentric cast of characters and plenty of suspects and red herrings.

The real fun for me in reading this book, however, wasn’t the mystery (which I found a bit of a let down in the end) but the World War II-era London setting. Murder by Matchlight was originally written and published in 1945 and the book is full of the kind of interesting and realistic period details—descriptions of air raids, rationing, rooming houses and the like—that elevate it beyond an ordinary crime novel and kept me turning the pages. Enjoyable for anyone with an interest in wartime London.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book in return for my honest review.

During the London blackout a young man sitting on a bench in Regent’s Park witnesses a murder for just a brief moment. The victim strikes a match to light his cigarette and in that split second the murderer looms up behind him and bludgeons him. His skull is smashed and he dies instantly.

It is up to Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard to solve the mystery set in the dark days of WWII when the city at night is either illuminated by the fires caused by German bombs or pitch black due to the blackout. Quite frankly, the murder is the least interesting part of the mystery. I could care less about the rather sleazy victim or who killed him. The strongest part of the novel is the way Lorac depicts life for the average Londoner. Constant bombing brings out the best and the worst in people and living with no light outside the house at night is frightening (or, in some cases, exhilarating)

The reader meets the tenants in the building where the victim lived. There’s Mrs. Maloney, the Cockney housekeeper who owns to sixty but is probably closer to eighty in age. She won’t let the Germans stop her from having her evening pint at the neighborhood pub or sleeping in her own bed. No air raid shelters for her. The Rameses’ perform a husband-and-wife illusion/magic act. They are either bickering or singing to each other and Mr. Rameses saves his wife’s wardrobe when their flat is destroyed. Macdonald’s sergeant, even though he is terrified when the bombs drop, continues to do his duty and only collapses from exhaustion and fear when his work is finished.

This novel, actually written during the war and published in 1945, gives a vivid picture of the bombed out neighborhoods, food rationing, the smells after the all-clear. It is a little treasure of contemporary history.

A reissue of a Golden Age mystery that remains as entertaining as it was on first publication in 1945. Set against World War II London -- during the Blitz, with war still raging across the Channel – the time period is (unsurprisingly, given its original date) realistically portrayed and the well-drawn cast of characters makes for an engaging read. A charming but roguish gentleman is murdered in Regent’s Park during the blackout – the victim is not who he seems to be. His act of lighting a match just before his brutal death briefly illuminates the face of the killer, whose identity is not the only question that Inspector Robert MacDonald and his team must grapple with. The dark, urban wartime setting is everything in this work, but the fascinating cast of characters adds greatly to its allure.
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest review.

I am great fan of ‘golden age’ and early 20th century crime fiction but E.C.R. Lorac is a new writer to me as is her creation Inspector Macdonald. This is fairly surprising as 'Murder by Matchlight' is the 25th in a series of 45, so she must have been doing something right!

Unfortunately, at the start this novel did not work for me; the writing and dialogue felt stilted and improbable and falsely jovial and overall this had the feel of a not particularly well scripted British film from this era.

But there is much here that should appeal to me: the victim’s nationality and background, the locations of the scenes, the clever puzzle at the heart of the story but initially somehow this all did not fully gel for me and I was left thinking that this may not be one of the better golden age stories.

However, after stopping myself getting frustrated by the terribly English and terribly uptight form of dialogue, I really started to enjoy this book. And in fact, I now think it is actually a gem!

As much as it is a ‘golden age’ whodunit, it is more importantly a study of national identity and the ‘British Spirit’ that carried that nation through the horrors of the Second World War and in particular, the bombing raids carried out on British Cities. It is very much a period piece, but none the worse for that, and written very near the time in which the book is set and as such in a very real way fascinating period details come to the fore: everyone carries an identity card as a matter of course, many characters live in ‘digs’ and have lost their homes and families in the bombing raids carried out by the Nazis. Simple comments are made about railings being removed (for use in munitions factories as part of the war effort) and so no public spaces can ever really be closed even if no one can find their way around the city at night as there is a ‘blackout’ in force. All of this is presented in a very natural, matter of fact way that brings a sense of reality and believability to the writing and makes the book a great historical piece in addition to the scattering of clues and red herrings throughout the novel which makes for a great story as well.

My hope is that many more E.C.R. Lorac titles are released as I am very keen to see this author’s take on the progression of Britain and Europe towards and through wartime, particularly if this social history provides the background for some great crime stories!