Perhaps of all the obscure authors brought back into the public’s eye by the British Library in its Crime Classics series, I enjoy the work of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894–1958) the most. Her 70 plus mysteries, originally published between 1931 and 1959, are immensely readable, if they can be found. The first editions of her books are usually the only copies and they command premium prices, especially the titles published under the Carol Carnac pseudonym.
The seventh appearance of Scotland Yard Inspector Julian Rivers is in It’s Her Own Funeral, published by Collins Crime Club in 1951 and Doubleday in the U.S. in 1952. Irritable and confrontational Ann Tempest has broken her leg and needs help in the old country manor house she refuses to leave. The elderly couple who has been superficially managing until now are unable to cope so Ann’s only relatives, a conniving niece and a sleazy nephew, come from London to make arrangements. They loathe the isolated inconvenient old house and wish Ann would sell and go live somewhere more amenable. While Ann chases off nurse after nurse with her difficult ways, Isobelle locates the children of a long-forgotten uncle. Jane and Roland have been at loose ends since the end of the war and agree to come to live in the house and run it for their great-aunt in exchange for a long-term place to stay and the chance to get to know their father’s family.
The heretofore unknown relatives get along so well with the crotchety Ann that the London niece and nephew fear for their inheritance and the maid is jealous. When Ann dies after the gas stove that the newcomers had installed malfunctions, fingers are pointed in their direction and whispering begins. A neglected and abused child of a tenant also makes a convenient scapegoat, as the devious Isobelle is quick to point out.
In the background is a compelling description of a post-war England still wrestling with the shortages caused by the conflict. Domestic labor especially was at a premium and the large old houses were impossible to keep up. As usual, Rivett/Lorac/Carnac writes expressively and at length about the beauty of the countryside. It is a predictable and welcome part of every book by her that I have read.
A solid but subdued contribution to the Lorac/Carnac canon and a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
Kirkus Reviews of 1 July 1952, said:
CID Rivers is on deck for the gas poisoning of elderly Ann Tempest and finds a domestic tangle to work on as young relatives are suspect in their care of the old lady and older descendants are not entirely blameless. There is a missing will, the poisoning of a mentally defective girl, the question of the house’s treasure and isolated incidents attributed to individuals for a well-dissected solution. Leisurely but intelligent.
In his “Criminals at Large” column in the New York Times of July 20, 1952, author and critic Anthony Boucher said:
Miss Carnac is so associated with just this type of unspectacular but satisfying Scotland Yard story that her admirers will feel no disappointment in her latest. Under both this name and that of E.C.R. Lorac she has produced a long and steady series of books solidly rewarding in quality, with a wise blend of ingenuity and plausibility, a nice balance between the detective problem and the subtler problems of character and background.
Her attractive Chief Inspector Julian Rivers is essentially a city man; the peculiar ancient country family at Dene Manor and its even more peculiar servants and tenants throw him off stride for a bit, but he recovers to come up with a surprising and reasonably convincing solution to a callous murder.
Recommended if you can find a copy.