This was an enjoyable post war mystery set in the English countryside with Golden Age vibes.
It kept my interest throughout but unfortunately I wasn’t surprised by the outcome. Still, it was a fun read.

Another great read from Edith Caroline Rivett, here writing as E.C.R. Lorac, “Two-Way Murder” was an unpublished manuscript found after her death in the late 1950s. Why it was unpublished we may never know, but it wasn’t because it was lacking in quality – this is another golden age mystery well done by an author at the top of her game.

It is the night of the annual Hunt Ball, the biggest social event in Fordings. A dark and foggy night, of course, as Nick Brent drives his friend Ian Macbane to the ball. Ian is a lawyer down from London, hoping to capture the heart of the beautiful Dilys Maine, but he is not the only one with his eye on her – in fact, Nick tells him that he is set to drive her home before midnight so her father won’t know she snuck out.

When Nick and Dilys leave the ball and drive home, they find a corpse thrown across the road. Nick does the chivalrous act and has Dilys take a path home so that she won’t be caught in the police investigation that is bound to happen. Once she is gone, he walks to the nearest house to phone the police, where he is attacked by someone in the dark as soon as he finishes the call.

And so the stage is set for the English countryside mystery to unravel. The rural folks don’t much care for the police, and would rather sit quiet than provide any help to the outsiders. We start with two inspectors, Turner and Waring. Turner is a “just the facts” type of officer, very by the book, while Waring talks to people and operates by intuition. The story very quickly follows Waring as he makes his way among the key players. We have several other mysteries and questions swirling around as well: What happened to Dilys’ father and why is he lying about where he was that night? What is the truth about the girl who went missing several years earlier? Why was the bar owner’s daughter run down? And who exactly is the corpse in the middle of the road that looks familiar but isn’t readily identified?

Ms. Lorac keeps the reader guessing with all of the secret, jealousies, and rivalries running around, showing us that you don’t need to be in a big city to have trouble around the corner. Inspector Waring is a great guide to take us through this mystery, I’m sure that if this book was published the Turner character would probably have been dropped. Enjoy this book from a master.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Pretty clever mystery, written in the 1950s but published now for the first time.
The central trick that’s the key to “whodunnit” is definitely possible for a careful reader to figure out, but not so glaringly obvious as to take away the fun of deduction. The characters are not terribly memorable, but the mystery works quite well. If you’re a fan of the Golden Age atmosphere, you’ll enjoy this.

This is a clever whodunit puzzle story set in the 1950's English countryside.   The late night discovery of a man's body in the middle of a country road brings in the police to investigate.  Initial efforts to identify the dead man are stymied because no one comes forward to identify him. There's nothing on the body to help them.   Inspector Waring is called into  the case after the basic investigation brings no results.  Waring goes beyond the "just the facts" approach going about the area as an outsider to  interview the locals.  They have secrets to keep, which the reader learns through the author's use of several (mostly accurate) narrators.    As the story progresses, rumor and gossip present several red herrings to take Waring off the trail and increase the suspense for the reader    A major piece of misdirection is eventually detected which leads to a satisfying resolution of the puzzle.  The identity of the killer is revealed in a dramatic conclusion.
It's an entertaining story, made interesting by the various alternate viewpoints of the multiple narrators.  The English country folk are well presented and there's plenty of local colour for the setting.  Inspector Waring's approach to the puzzle reflects a nuanced investigation moving beyond the nuts and bolts methods of the initial one.
An Introduction by Martin Edwards, common to the British Library Crime Classics series, provides a wealth of background to this previously unpublished novel as well as the other work of the author.   
All in all, it's a worthy addition to the British Library series that merits the attention of fans of the Golden Age of Mystery.

E.R. Lorac is one of the Queen of Golden Age in my heart, a author I loved and who wrote great mysteries.
I read a lot of her mysteries and was more than happy when a new one was discovered, never published before.
As Martin Edwards wrote it was a late work and nobody knew if it was up to the previous works or not and why it wasn't published.
I can guarantee it's one Lorac's best mystery, a complex and gripping story featuring a puzzle, a cast of interesting characters, and a new Inspector (Inspector Waring).
I read it in one setting and it kept me reading till late in the night.
I hope against all odds that there's a lot of Inspector Waring mysteries somewhere. It's hoping against all odds but it would be great.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine