Dramatic Murder

by Elizabeth Anthony

Synopsis:

Dimpson McCabe—Dimpsie—has invited all of his closest friends of the theatre world to join him for Christmas at his castle on a private island a few hours’ drive from Edinburgh. The festivities have barely had a chance to begin when poor Dimpsie is found draped atop the Christmas tree, electrocuted by the lights with which it is festooned.

The Sheriff’s Court yields a verdict of Accidental Death, but in the swirling snow suspicion is dancing among the flakes. Through Dimpsie’s cadre of directors, producers, actors, secretaries and agents runs a hot streak of hidden grievances and theatrical scheming, and as the group return to London the dogged Inspector Smith begins to circle, seeking to find the leading man or prima donna responsible for this ghoulish crime.

First published in 1948 and lost for over 75 years, this classic seasonal murder mystery is long overdue its bedazzling return to print.

Elizabeth Anthony’s Dramatic Murder has the subtitle “A Lost Christmas Mystery” in the British Library Crime Classics series. And it’s technically true: it is set at Christmas, opening as Dr Harley and Katherine arrive at the Scottish home of a playwright, Dimpson McCabe — and find him dead, electrocuted while working on the lights for an enormous Christmas Tree.

The descriptions of his home and the tree are atmospheric but… somehow none of it screams Christmas. It’s basically the fact that there’s a tree and a brief mention of giving out presents from the deceased afterwards that reminds you — barely — that it opened at Christmas. The story doesn’t really revolve around it at all, except that the lights provided a method for murder.

So not a super seasonal read, but I found it a fun mystery. After a certain point it becomes blindingly obvious who the murderer is, though it takes a bit longer for the motive to be spelled out as clearly. It’s still very tense, though, because you don’t know quite who might be in the firing line next.

The police character, Smith, is a fairly background one, but not exactly cast in the usual mystery mould somehow. He seems so mild. The main “detective” is Katherine, I suppose, but really we get to see the mystery unfold from the point of view of the whole cast of suspects, which adds to the tension as they all seem to feel a sense of foreboding and danger.

Overall, I think I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s kind of hard to say because for a while, as I was reading it, it felt a bit fragmented. But at the end, looking back on it, it came together well, and there’s certainly some very fine writing.

Rating: 4/5