Murder as a Fine Art

This 1953 classic featuring Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard by Carol Carnac (a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett, who also wrote under the name E. C. R. Lorac) was first published in Britain by Collins, London, for The Crime Club. This edition features includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar Award-winning author Martin Edwards.

A gigantic marble bust stood on a pedestal at the head of the staircase.

"It's a work of art," said David unhappily. "One mustn't let personal prejudice intervene..."

"I've often wondered if it would topple off with a little encouragement," said Pompfret. "It'd be a wonderful sight to see it bounce down the stairs. It must weigh several tons..."

When a civil servant at the newly formed Ministry of Fine Arts is found crushed beneath a monstrous marble bust after dark, it appears to be the third instance in a string of fatal accidents at the department. Already disturbed by rumours of forgeries and irregularities in the Ministry's dealings, Minister Humphry David is soon faced with the possibility that among his colleagues is a murderer--though how the bust could have been made an instrument of death is a masterstroke of criminal devilment. Taking charge of the case, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard enters a caustic world of fine art and civil service grievances to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight.

CAROL CARNAC was a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958), who also wrote as E. C. R. Lorac and was a prolific writer of crime fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s as well as a member of the prestigious Detection Club. Her books have been almost entirely neglected since her death and deserve rediscovery as fine examples of classic British crime fiction in its Golden Age.