Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac (1935)

Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac (1935)

Vivian Lestrange, a popular, successful mystery writer, has disappeared from his house and is reported missing by his secretary, Eleanor Clarke. She reports her reclusive boss’s disappearance to the local police officer named Bond. After he hears the queer tale of her employment, he calls in Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Warner to help him make…

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April 7, 2024

7 minutes

Bibliomysteries, Bibliomystery, Book Review, British Library Crime Classics, Cozy mystery, Death of an Author, E.C.R. Lorac, fiction, Golden Age Mystery, mystery, Vintage Mystery

Eleanor Clarke, a friendless, penniless orphan, was engaged as secretary to the reclusive writer Vivian Lestrange. She handled all correspondence, mail, and banking for him. He was never seen by anyone, save for a live-in cook, who handled buying all the food and dealing with tradesmen. Clarke helped Lestrange write all of his books, and Lestrange paid Clarke twice to impersonate him to his publishers.

The first time she impersonated Lestrange, things went smoothly, his publishers buying her tall tales of never correcting their assumption that she was a man to better protect her anonymity and to get better sales and esteem from the public. Male writers are taken more seriously, she contends. The publishers are initially unsure if a woman could have written such intricate and well-drawn plots, especially the novels that are set in part in prison. She waves away their questioning and is so charming that they soon turn bashful in assuming that the Lestrange books could not be written by such an erudite and well-spoken woman.

Several months later, Lestrange is asked by his publishers to come to a party because other authors and fans wish to meet him. The publishers who have asked Lestrange to attend gatherings are pleasantly surprised when Eleanor Clarke, who is impersonating her employer, comes to the party. Clarke is swarmed by attention and gets into heated discussions with many of the party men, who believe Clarke can’t be Lestrange.

Fellow author Michael Ash leads the charge of suspicion. He grills her extensively throughout the night. She parries his questions well, but as the night wears on, she feels like he is trying to trap her, and his eyes and manner become increasingly dangerous. She fears that there is something malicious behind his questioning but cannot fathom what.

Soon after the party, she returns to working for Mr. Lestrange as usual until one day when he has disappeared. The cook is also gone, and the house is deserted of any personal effects. The only clue is a bullet hole through a window.

She tells Bond and Warner her tale, and when pressed further, she details several strange habits of Mr. Lestrange, such as the fact that he went by Mr. Brown at home, always wore gloves, and never saw anyone.

Bond and Warnercan find no definitive proof that Mr. Lestrange ever existed and wonder if he is a figment of Clarke’s imagination to help sell more books. There’s no trace of his history, and no one has ever seen him.

Things look very black against Clarke until a series of strange events start to happen: a badly disfigured body is found, Michael Ash disappears without a trace, and a long, rambling note with a colorful confession is sent to the police stating the reason for Mr. Lestrange’s death.

What is real and what is fiction is at the heart of unraveling Death of an Author?

The Review

Death of an Author is a straight-up thrill ride with twists and turns that kept pulling the rug out from under my feet. I had so many wild hare theories that weren’t even as good as the solution.

I’m getting ahead of myself.

Death of an Author is all about the man or woman behind the nom-de-plume. Bond, Warner, and the reader constantly ask if the person being presented in front of them is the true version of the character or a complicated fiction. Within the Death of an Author, we see how many people have rewritten or totally erased their past by donning a new name. This new name and a self-created persona give them access to prestige, power, success, and fame.

What begins as a lot of tongue-in-cheek banter about how women are not taken seriously as authors, which I am sure is written from Lorac’s personal experience, is taken to extremes. What if a person dons a nom-de-plume not to just bypass the patriarchal hierarchy but to escape justice. What if someone who knows the truth spoils their carefully crafted reality? Would it drive them to flee and begin again or to murder?

Or is Lestrange’s disappearance a publicity stunt because Lestrange never existed outside of Clarke’s mind? Is she playing a cruel joke on the police and on her fans?

Bond and Warner examine each of these theories. They came to different conclusions based on her story and investigated their inquiries. Again and again, they are on the wrong track until a small break in the case leads them down a strange, convoluted rabbit hole of betrayal, embezzlement, and hatred.

This is a great mystery. The detectives are top-tier, the plotting and clueing are ridiculously difficult, and the doubling of circumstances, of truths and lies, made me feel like I was wading through an endless maze of fun house mirrors, with the truth becoming more and more distorted the further I read.

Death of an Author is one of Lorac’s best mysteries, and I highly recommend it.

E.C.R. Lorac Biography

Edith Caroline Rivett-Carnac, who wrote under the pen name E.C.R. Lorac and Carol Carnac, was a British crime writer born on November 6, 1894, and died on August 2, 1958. She was a prolific author, best known for her detective fiction, particularly her series featuring Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald.

Lorac was born in Hendon, Middlesex, England. She began her writing career in the 1930s and published over 60 novels, most of which were detective stories. Her writing style often featured intricate plots, well-developed characters, and a keen attention to detail.

During her lifetime, Lorac was a respected member of the prestigious Detection Club, an association of British mystery writers founded in 1930 by a group of leading crime writers, including Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Lorac’s novels were set in various locations, including London and the English countryside, and she often drew on her own experiences and observations of British society. Her works were praised for their strong sense of place and atmosphere, as well as their cleverly crafted mysteries.

Despite her prolific output and popularity during her lifetime, Lorac’s works fell out of print for several decades after her death. However, there has been a renewed interest in her writings in recent years, with several of her novels being reissued and republished for a new generation of readers to enjoy.