Murder in High Provence (John Giffords, 1957) by George Bellairs, the 27th case of Inspector Thomas Littlejohn, opens with a visit to the Littlejohn home by the Minister of Commerce, Spencer Lovell. Lovell’s only brother Christopher and his wife Elise were killed in a car accident in a remote part of northern Provence earlier in the year. Lovell is uneasy about the findings, with no specific cause other than the speed of the French authorities in closing the case, and he asks Littlejohn to quietly investigate.
Littlejohn is dubious about his ability to learn anything that might be helpful. He has visited the rural area before and knows the natives to be unfriendly to outsiders. He agrees to try however. He and his wife pack up and go to the village of St. Marcellin, a tiny rundown place without much to recommend it, and pretend to be tourists. His bland inquiries are met with silence. When one of the locals drinks too freely and hints that there is more to the story than the official version, he is nearly killed in a freak accident and then he vanishes overnight. Littlejohn’s suspicions are aroused immediately.
The Marquis de St. Marcellin demands loyalty of the people in the region and nearly all of them owe him their livelihood one way or another, so news of Littlejohn’s questions reach him quickly. He interviews Littlejohn in an attempt to divert his attention but only demonstrates that there is something wrong.
When Littlejohn learns that Elise was the only child of a wealthy couple and stood to inherit a fortune and that both of the St. Marcellin brothers wanted to marry her to replenish the empty family coffers, then a motive for murder of Christopher Lovell became clear. Then he discovers that one of the St. Marcellin brothers also died under murky circumstances, which opened a new line of questions to be asked.
Reading Bellairs when he takes Inspector Littlejohn abroad is always like reading a well-written travelogue. His gift for describing the land and the people who have chosen to live there is equal to Edith Rivett’s. His plotting too is sound and even in this title late in the series surprises pop up throughout the narrative and the outcome is well hidden.
I rely on Bellairs for a pleasant well-constructed mystery and he has never failed me. Another good story from a good author who thankfully has been reprinted for a new generation of readers.