Cobb's first book, and a bit of a mixed bag. Christopher Heriot, the famous novelist, dies at home in the country and the autopsy shows arsenic poisoning. Only two people -- Heriot's wife and his nephew Cecil -- were present at the time, so it looks like an open-and-shut case against one of them -- but which? Cheviot Burmann heads for the local inn with his fiancee Dorothy -- separate rooms, of course -- and goes to work. The local police are heavy-handed and hostile and progress is slow, but eventually Burmann teases out the threads left by a third suspect. An ingenious -- but rather chancy -- murder method is spoilt by being introduced too late.
Cobb liked to work in miniature, and this highly focussed novel is a good introduction. Personalities are well depicted and progress is steady if slow.
Jon.
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