Fire in the Thatch
A Devon Mystery
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
"Readers will enjoy watching the conflicts that arise between the wary country folk and the cocktail-drinking Londoners invading their habitat. In sum, this is jolly good fun." —Publishers Weekly
The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Devon—renting a thatched cottage in the beautiful countryside at Mallory Fitzjohn. Vaughan sets to work farming the land, rearing geese and renovating the cottage. Hard work and rural peace seem to make this a happy bachelor life.
On a nearby farm lives the bored, flirtatious June St Cyres, an exile from London while her husband is a Japanese POW. June's presence attracts fashionable visitors of dubious character, and threatens to spoil Vaughan's prized seclusion.
When Little Thatch is destroyed in a blaze, all Vaughan's work goes up in smoke—and Inspector Macdonald is drafted in to uncover a motive for murder.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lorac (1894 1958) lovingly portrays the lush Devon countryside in this satisfying entry in the British Crime Classics series, originally published in 1946 and featuring observant and dogged Chief Insp. Robert Macdonald of Scotland Yard. Into this idyllic world strides Nicholas Vaughan, a strapping young man who has been invalided out of the Royal Navy toward the end of WWII. He rents a derelict cottage and its surrounding orchards from wealthy landowner Colonel St. Cyres with the intention of earning a living off the land. A few months later, the house is destroyed by fire, with its occupant inside; Macdonald arrives to investigate. Lorac (the pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett) liberally sprinkles the narrative with red herrings and fairly presents all the potential clues. Readers will enjoy watching the conflicts that arise between the wary country folk and the cocktail-drinking Londoners invading their habitat. In sum, this is jolly good fun.
