Well-paced Golden Age mystery; it's always a joy to find a new series and Inspector MacDonald appears to be a detective that a reader can sink his or her teeth into. Leans away from upper-classes that Christie is so fond of and firmly towards the lower-middle and middle classes - there are definitely no hunting parties at the Castle hereabouts and we're all the better for it. Stands out for an especially insightful scene set in a bomb shelter during the Blitz.

I received a free Ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A brief glimpse into London during the blackouts that also happens to include the murder and attempted murder of several thoroughly rotten characters. There's a lot of not overly subtle indictments against those who could not or would not keep the wartime, chin up spirit here, and the usual class and nationality biases of the time are sprinkled throughout, but the core mystery is interesting (as long as one thinks of time as a flat circle)and Ms. Lorac has a lovely hand at character description, so I recommend for sure.

I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Murder by Matchlight" is a fine mystery work by E.C.R. Lorac. There are only, to date, three titles by the author being republished albeit she was a prolific mystery writer of her time. E.C.R. Lorac was an extremely capable mystery writer. The three books, including "Murder by Matchlight," all offer different surprises and distinct elements for readers of the genre. "Murder by Matchlight," however, is a slight disappointment somewhat.

I loved ALL the characters, the premise, the intriguing murder case and the historical backdrop. Set during the war time London, a scoundrel was murdered during blackout. Two witnesses and people remotely related to the blighter were being investigated in order to establish the possible links to the deceased. Many odd coincidences, persistent sleuth works, and manipulating psychological games led the inspector to put the missing pieces together. An exciting plot, a true page turner until the very last chapter. The outcome of the case and the execution of the murder were huge letdowns. When the construction of the plot was extremely puzzling, my hope for the wow ending was just as high. 90% of the book was well written, just the last 10% left me unsatisfied.

It's a book that worth more than a 3.5-star rating but not yet a 4. Considering the author managed to keep my mind occupied for majority of the time, and I adored the historical tidbit about the war time London, I still recommend this title to fans who love mystery oldies. The major redeeming quality, however, was the impeccable creations of the characters. A most vivid set of witnesses, suspects, officers and so forth made "Murder by Matchlight" a delightful read.

Maybe it’s because they are Londoners...

It’s a cold winter in London during World War 2, with the blackout in full force and the population living with the constant spectre of bombing raids. One night, young Bruce Mallaig is sitting on a bench in Regent’s Park thinking romantic thoughts of the girl he loves, when he sees – or mostly hears due to the pitch darkness – two men near the little footbridge, one on the bridge, the other standing below it. While he ponders what they might be up to, the man on the bridge lights a match and Mallaig catches a glimpse of a face looming behind him. The match goes out and there’s a thud as of someone falling. By the time Mallaig fumbles his torch alight, the man on the bridge is dead...

Of course, this is the story he tells the police, but is it true? There was another witness too, the man under the bridge, whose story sounds less likely but possible. Inspector MacDonald of the Yard will have to decide if either of these witness could have done the deed, or had a fourth person been there in the darkness, unseen except for that brief glimpse Mallaig caught in the matchlight? But first MacDonald will have to identify the victim before he can try to discover the motive for the crime.

This is the third of ECR Lorac’s books that the British Library has re-issued and she’s now become one of my firm favourites. MacDonald is a likeable detective – a moral man but with the ability to make allowances for the moral weaknesses of others. He’s thoughtful and kind, Oxford-educated but doesn’t live in an ivory tower. He’s as likely to go to see the latest variety show at the music-hall as to attend the newest production of Shakespeare, and this stands him in good stead in this investigation, since it soon turns out the victim lived in a boarding-house full of variety performers.

The plot is very good, with plenty of motives to provide red herrings, and an investigation that relies on MacDonald getting to the truth the old-fashioned way – by interviewing the various suspects both formally and informally, while his team carry out the painstaking work of checking alibis and tracking people’s movements. That’s one of the things I like most about these books – Lorac makes it clear that policing is a team sport. While MacDonald has the intuition and insight to make assumptions about who might be lying or telling the truth, he relies on his hard-working and competent subordinates to get the evidence to support or negate his theories.

One of Lorac’s chief skills is in developing her settings with a great feeling of authenticity. This one takes us to the heart of the capital city during the bombings, and gives a wonderful depiction of the dogged Londoners picking themselves up and carrying on, with the kind of defiant resilience that was the hallmark of London’s (and Britain’s) war-time attitude. But she doesn’t shy away from showing that this spirit wasn’t universal – many people were scared, while some took advantage of the confusion caused by the destruction in less than legal ways. In fact, Lorac uses this confusion as part of her plot and gives a real picture of the bombed out areas of the city and the disruption which that caused, with people dispersed from their old communities so that suddenly neighbours no longer knew neighbours in the way they had before the war, allowing the unscrupulous to “disappear” into new lives, even new identities.

I also love her characterisation. The most vivid characters here are the variety performers, and as you would expect they can be a bit larger than life, and their quirky skills again play a part in the plotting. She doesn’t overdo it, though, so they still feel credible. But it’s the “ordinary” people she does so well – the old caretaker who looks after the boarding-house and does a bit of cleaning on the side, Mallaig, MacDonald’s subordinates. This is back in the period when authors used to assume that people who weren’t the baddies were good, and this is emphasised more here because, written in 1945, consciously or unconsciously it plays into the story Londoners told themselves to keep their chins up in the face of adversity: a story of plucky cheerfulness, neighbourliness and acts of heroism – a story they told so convincingly it became their reality. A heinous crime has been committed, with a motivation that might feel somewhat out-dated now, but would have resonated strongly at the time. But, despite the crime and the bombs, all will be well because London and Londoners will never allow Hitler the satisfaction of thinking he can give more than they can take. And with men like MacDonald in charge, London is in safe hands.

Strong plot, good characterisation, plenty of mild humour to lift the tone – all-in-all, an excellent read that gives a real insight into the war on the Home Front, and the patriotic spirit that carried London through. Great stuff!

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.

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Murder by Matchlight features Scotland Yard’s imperturbable Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald, who is tasked with finding the killer of the man on the bridge. His only evidence: a set of bicycle tracks that come to an abrupt end. His suspects: a colorful cast that includes the shy, soft-spoken witness, a respected London physician, a screenwriter, an unemployed laborer, and a vaudevillian specializing in illusions.
This is the first of Lorac’s MacDonald mysteries I’ve read. MacDonald is a good character, smart, kind, a gentleman. He’s got several cops who work for him who have their own characteristics. But they are all honest and good at their jobs.
The job is not easy. The dead man lived in a boarding house along with several “theater” people. The suspects are definitely more interesting than the detective.
What makes Murder by Matchlight stand out is the war time London setting. The blackout restrictions and Nazi bombings are integral to the plot. It’s neat to see how normal life goes on during wartime. The theater stays open, the cops keep investigating, the restaurants continue serving, but you try to save your silk stocking when your building catches on fire because it’s nigh impossible to get new ones. Most mysteries I read from the era don’t show us quite as detailed a picture of how normal, everyday people were affected.

I really enjoyed this one. I had to do a bit of Googling since I didn’t know that much about the London Blitz and also had to look up some 1940’s British slang (N.B.G.)
I’d never heard of Lorac til I listened to the Carolyn Crampton’s terrific Shedunnit podcast, about women detective writers from the “Golden Age” of crime writing. I’ll be reading more Lorac, and you should check out Shedunnit.

One of my personal Reading Challenges this year is to read as many of the British Library Crime Classics as possible and this is the first I have finished. It was a great start because I really enjoyed the book, both in terms of the mystery and the historical background; it was originally published in 1945 and it is set in that period. I did not attempt to guess the solution to the crime which is probably as well because I imagine the motive as finally revealed would probably have resonated far more with people at the time than it does in our very different time