Inspector Lansing - Carol Carnac

Carol Carnac is a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett.She was a prolific mystery writer from 1931 until her death in 1958. As a child she lived in both England and Australia. She is credited with creating fictional detectives Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald, Inspector Ryvet, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers, and Inspector Lansing. Some of the books overlap, featuring more than one of these characters.

Her books follow the style of the Golden Age of Mystery. They are difficult to find, and I'm still trying to determine which 18 feature Inspector Lansing. A few have been re-published as British Classics. Based on the two I have read, I'd love to find more

So far, I've only read this one book, but I give it a very high rating for plot, characters, and locations.

Crossed Skis (1952)
The book begins with a group of young people who have loosely banded together to take a ski holiday to Austria by ferry and train. Sixteen people, most of whom don't really know one another travel to the ski resort.

Meanwhile, Rivers and Lansing are attempting to solve a puzzling murder in London that occurs in a boarding house. The neer-do-well son of the owner seems to be key to the solution. One of the flats caught fire, and the body of the lodger was found thrust into the gas flame so that his face and hands are too disfigured for identification. The police suspect the body is not that of the lodger.

On the ski holiday, strange events begin to happen, and the members of the party suspiciously begin sorting out who they think they can and can't trust.

The book culminates with a dangerous ski chase in a blizzard.

Impact of Evidence (1958)

This is set in the farm country of Wales in the winter. Life is harsh, and the book does a convincing job of portraying that condition. You really can feel the hills and the snow and the horrible flood that cuts the small settlement off from the rest of the country for days.

During that time of isolation, an old man who probably shouldn't be driving is broadsided by another car when he recklessly drives in front of that car. The impacted car is pushed into the river where it is lodged. The driver of the other car, though injured, stumbles down to the closest farm to get help.

When a group of men rally under nearly impossible weather conditions to rescue the old man from the car in the river, he is determined to be dead. The huge surprise is that there is another man dead in the back seat.

The story unwinds methodically with many a suspect and potential motive. In the classic mystery tradition, the guilty party is not revealed until the very end.

Mystery Series- Lord Peter Wimsey

Dorothy L. Sayers (Fair Use)

Dorothy L. Sayers, 1893-1957, is considered one of the top four female mystery writers of the Golden Age of Mysteries (1920s and 1930s). Her primary detective is Lord Peter Wimsey, an English gentleman who likes to solve mysteries as a hobby.

A number of the Wimsey tales are short stories, which by design are much simpler than novels. Such stories are so noted below.

Of the Golden Age detectives, Lord Peter is my least favorite. But you may not agree.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Lord Peter Wimsey
Mervyn Bunter, his batman
Charles Parker, his brother-in-law
Harriet Vane

#1 Whose Body?, 1923

#2 Clouds of Witness, 1926

#3 Unnatural Death/ The Dawson Pedigree (US title), 1927

Lord Peter Views the Body, 1928, short story collection

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, 1928

Strong Poison, 1930

The Five Red Herrings, 1931

Have His Carcase, 1932

Hangman's Holiday, 1933, short story collection

Murder Must Advertise, 1933

The Nine Tailors, 1934

Gaudy Night, 1935

Busman's Honeymoon, 1937

In the Teeth of the Evidence, 1940, short story in the collection of the same name
Lord Peter is visiting his dentist when the man is summoned to examine the teeth of a corpse for identification purposes. Of course, Wimsey envigles his way into the scene. The identification appears to be straightforward.

Absolutely Elsewhere, 1940, short story in the collection In the Teeth of the Evidence
Wimsey's brother-in-law, detective Parker has asked him to help with a crime where all the good suspects were elsewhere at the time. An unpleasant and financially tight-fisted man is found murdered at the dinner table. Phone conversations place the man's nephews miles away. There is a man waiting in the library who might like to kill him. There is the butler and the cook. The solution of this mystery depends upon an understanding of the technology of the time period.

Striding Folly, 1972, short stories collected posthumously

Lord Peter, 1972, short stories collected posthumously

Thrones, Dominations, 1998 published posthumously and completed by Jill Paton Walsh