Secondly, the point that struck me early on and made me realise this was no ordinary cosy-by-numbers was his underlining of the human tragedy in all this. He constantly worries that his amateur status – and worse, his growing fame – will annoy the senior officers whose tolerance he relies upon. The first is his almost bashful humility – with none of the confidence or downright arrogance of others, Tremaine watches quietly, thinks, speaks politely when he has to. However, there are two main differences as far as I can see, and they are in Mordecai Tremaine’s favour. We’re all familiar with Golden Age amateur detectives such as Campion or Poirot, and there are inevitable similarities here, the friendship with a member of Scotland Yard for instance. As the detectives get to work there are skeletons to be found lurking in a few closets. The death of a local GP in an abandoned house looks like an unfortunate encounter with a tramp, but that doesn’t explain why the doctor had a gun in his bag. Not a natural crime-fighting celebrity, you might think, but in In at the Death his burgeoning reputation as an amateur sleuth is both a blessing and something of a burden as he accompanies his good friend Inspector Boyce on the trail of a murderer in the city of Bridgton.

Mordecai Tremaine is an elderly retired tobacconist, a fan of romantic fiction, and a wearer of pince-nez.

What makes it stand out is the thoughtful, human approach of the central character who chooses to see it as more than an entertaining intellectual puzzle. Investigating the killing, Tremaine is quick to realise that however handsome a couple the Carthallows were, and however extravagant a life they led, beneath the surface there's a pretty devil's brew.Summary: This is a reasonably gentle 1950s mystery that will appeal to fans of golden age detective fiction. Luckily for the Inspector, amateur criminologist Mordecai Tremaine has an uncanny habit of being in the near neighbourhood whenever sudden death makes its appearance. Inspector Penross of the town constabulary is, however, less than convinced by Helen Carthallow's story - but has no other explanation for the incident that occurred when the couple were alone in their clifftop house. Not only that, but his wife has confessed to firing the fatal shot. But this time it's not his paintings that have provoked a blaze of publicity - it's the fact that his career has been suddenly terminated by a bullet to the head. Amateur sleuth Mordecai Tremaine is back in another classic mystery from the author of Murder for Christmas Adrian Carthallow, enfant terrible of the art world, is no stranger to controversy.

Mordecai tremaine series