Fire in the Thatch

One of the very few known facts about the life of Edith Caroline Rivett is that she was evacuated from London to South Devon during the war. Among London and North Lancashire this region provides the setting for several of her novels. As seen in Fire in the Thatch she apparently knows about its landscape and agriculture, its vernacular architecture and its people.

Murder for Pleasure suggests a formula for the detective genre "50% good detection, 25% character, 25% what you know best". Mrs. Rivett, writing as E.C.R. Lorac, certainly fulfils the last 25%. The setting in time is excellent, too. It’s about 1944 and references to the war abound. Rationing of petrol is even an integral part of the story.