Murder in the Museum

March 14, 2016
Queer things are going on at the British Museum in Rowlands’s amusing seventh Inspector Shelley mystery, which was originally published in 1938 and is now available in the British Library Crime Classics series. Scholars are dropping dead in the reading room, and suspects from every walk of life seem to be popping in to take a gander at the Egyptian exhibit or do a spot of research on minor Elizabethan poets. Mild-mannered mystery enthusiast Henry Fairhurst, incensed by the stentorian snores of a fellow researcher, goes over to express his displeasure. As Fairhurst draws near, the old duffer ceases snoring and tumbles out of his chair, dead. This gives Fairhurst the chance to break out of his dull routine and indulge in a real-life investigation. Fortunately, the official police officer in charge, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Shelley, doesn’t mind a little help from an amateur sleuth. In addition to the Inspector Shelley series, Rowland (1907–1984) wrote books on popular science and Unitarianism.