The charm of this book is its setting in the British countryside and E. C. R. Lorac’s loving descriptions of it. The book opens with the return of the Garth family’s prodigal son, Richard, a character who is never seen again throughout the novel, yet remains a suspect for most of it. There are numerous other odd things about the book: changing detectives partway through for seemingly no reason; the inclusion of not one but two unlikeable curmudgeons (one of whom ends up the victim); and some gaping holes in the logic of the story. But, again, the Lunesdale farmers and their taciturn ways—their fox hunt that isn’t really a fox hunt and their dislike of gossip unless it’s about someone they know—provided enough interest to keep going. The second detective, Chief Superintendent No-first-name Macdonald infused the investigation with a kind of straightforward bonhomie that was refreshing. I’d try another Lorac.