well put together but no compelling characters; not one ( )

A good, well-paced, solid mystery. ( )

This book starts off with a bang—literally. An explosion at the Excelsior Joinery Company kills three of the five directors. The company is in dire financial straits. Could the place have been blown up for the insurance money? Or did someone hold a grudge against one of the directors?

It is surprising that this book was published in 1964; in terms of atmosphere it would not seem out of place in the immediate post-war or even between the wars. Littlejohn does a bit more sleuthing in this one, to my mind, rather than just sitting around waiting for people to confess to him. His sidekick Cromwell gets some airtime as well. The ending is one of those “gather all the suspects then name the murderer” kind of setups, and it works OK here. There are certainly enough of them to go around, as evidenced by the title.

This was a solid read when I was looking for some Golden Age escapism. ( )

The violent death of three men in a factory explosion has Scotland Yard detectives Littlejohn and Cromwell investigating a multiple murder. Initial suspicion is that it was an insurance scam gone wrong but the detectives uncover a sophisticated land development fraud scheme and corrupt politicians. The storyline is on the mundane side, but the characterization is superb. In particular, Alderman Vintner, a corrupt politician, and his histrionic daughter are standouts.
It's a light read and recommended for Golden Age of Murder fans, even though it is set in the 1960's. ( )

There has been an explosion in a joinery factory and Inspector Littlejohn and his colleague Cromwell find themselves overrun with suspects.

All of the suspects are not particularly likeable and all have possible motives for blowing up the factory, and killing three people in the process. There’s the wronged husband, the pugnacious father-in-law and the disgruntled business associate. The trouble is not finding out who had a motive, but narrowing down those that did.

This was the first Inspector Littlejohn novel I have read, though I am a fan of British Library Crime Classics. There is something wonderfully transporting about the series and this book was no different. I’ve read very few books written in the 1960s but I could easily envisage the location and characters depicted here.

The British Library Crime Classics refer back to a time before DNA analysis, blood spatter experts and CSI teams. They rely on detection to find the culprit, a trail of clues left for the reader, and ultimately the protagonist, to follow and deduce.

This is very much a character led book. We see motive after motive, delving into the background of the victims and those who may have wanted them dead. The thought process of the police, their deduction techniques, almost comes in second place. Some clues are kept close to the author’s chest, being revealed almost at the same time as the denouement, done perhaps, to try and make the revelation of the culprit a surprise.

There is something cosy and comforting about this book, and indeed all of the books from the series I have read. For me this is a very good thing and one which attracts me to the books. From the beautiful artwork that adorns the covers to that sense of control and the righting of wrongs in the story that follows, there is something infinitely fascinating when reading a genre as seen in the past.

It is always a pleasure to be transported back in time by the British Library and their crime classics series. This sojourn to the 60s with Inspector Littlejohn was an enjoyable one.

Perfect for a rainy day or two, I enjoyed cosying up to work out whodunnit.I have more George Bellairs on my bookshelves and look forward to reading them soon. ( )