Murder at the Loch

July 1, 2016

Donald Langham and Maria Dupre are looking forward to their wedding in May. But Langham is called away to the Highlands, along with his friend Ralph Ryland to investigate the alleged murder attempt on their former commanding officer Major Gordon. The major has refurbished an old castle, turning it into a hotel and is attempting to raise a German aircraft from the bottom of the loch, where it crashed in February 1945. The list of people who would want to sabotage the major's efforts includes Gordon's Byronesque layabout son, an aloof Hungarian countess, a German aircraft enthusiast, a retired academic investigating the castle's ghosts, and three staff members, including a young woman who is more than a family friend. The sleuths arrive at the estate in a snowstorm and are soon stranded. As the bodies begin to pile up, Langham and Ryland are running out of time to find the culprit. VERDICT This charming book, which follows Murder at the Chase, brings to the page well-defined characters and a classic locked-room structure. Recommend for anyone who loves English country house murders.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Here's the third mystery featuring crime-writer Donald Langham. It's December 1955, and Major Cartwright, Langham's former commanding officer (in Madagascar and India), thinks someone may be trying to kill him. He's hired a private investigator, who asks Langham to accompany him to the major's home to see if there's anything to the man's misgivings. After Langham arrives, it isn't long before another of the major's houseguests is found dead. Full of moody atmosphereBrown makes the most of his setting, a castle in the Scottish Highlandsthe novel is claustrophobically suspenseful, with a likable protagonist and a cast of supporting characters who could have walked, with minor changes, off the pages of an Agatha Christie novel. This promises to be a fine series, if future installments are as good as the first three have been.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)