Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R. Lorac is another of the British Library Crime Classics with an introduction by Martin Edwards. After I read and reviewed Checkmate to Murder by Lorac in March, I ordered the rest of her mysteries that are available in the British Library Crime Classics series. I like the author’s strengths. In his introduction, Edwards mentions the plots and atmosphere. He also says that Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald of Scotland Yard is not memorable, and, at one point, Lorac even forgot his name. However, I like the detective that doesn’t give up or accept the simple solution. He’s not satisfied until he has the complete answer.

The story begins on a foggy evening in London when a group of friends gather at the home of Bruce and Sybilla Attleton. Bruce attended a funeral of a distant cousin that day, and his friends have gathered for comfort. The conversation turns to murder when Attleton’s ward, Elizabeth Leigh, mentions the topic of a competition at her club. If you had a corpse, how would you dispose of it so clues don’t lead back to you?

Perhaps that conversation provides the killer with an idea or two. Attleton’s friend, Neil Rockingham is due in Paris, and Bruce Attleton is going over about the same time. But, Attleton never arrives. Rockingham worries, and asks Robert Grenville, a young journalist who wants to marry Elizabeth, to look for a man named Debrette who seems to be causing problems for Attleton. Grenville finds the man’s studio, a strange place called the Morgue, where owls and bats reside in the belfry. But, the episode leads to a confrontation. Grenville’s relentless, though, and he won’t give up until he can get inside the sculptor’s studio. That’s where he finds Attleton’s suitcase.

Rockingham regrets setting Grenville on the trail of a man who could be dangerous, and he contacts Scotland Yard. Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald isn’t impressed with the stories told by either man, but he’s as relentless as Grenville. And, it’s Scotland Yard who finds a body, a headless body that is also missing its hands.

As always, Martin Edwards’ introduction provides excellent background for the mystery, and, as I said before, mentioning the plotting. He’s right. The atmosphere is beautifully created in this mystery. And, the author does play fair with the reader. All the clues are there, and I did figure out “whodunnit”. Edwards doesn’t mention one factor that might bother some readers. Time and again, those who saw or knew him refer to Debrette as a “dago”. However, the book was originally published in 1937, and readers would not have viewed the term as the insult we see it as today.

Those looking for a classic mystery of the Golden Age, a step-by-step police procedural, should be satisfied with Bats in the Belfrey.

Bats in the Belfrey, by E.C.R. Lorac. Poisoned Pen Press, 1937, 2018. ISBN 9781464209659 (paperback), 232p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.