Post After Post-Mortem is a delicious locked-room mystery in the British Crime Classics series. The Surrey family members are intelligent writers, bright but sometimes oblivious and exasperating. One of the daughters, Ruth, dies by apparent suicide. With the family reputation at stake, most quickly accept that though she wasn't unhappy she took her life. However, the post mortem verdict uneasily niggles away in the minds of one or two, especially after sibling Richard receives a letter delayed in the post from Ruth. CID Robert Macdonald investigates and runs into problem after problem, especially when gathering information is akin to pulling teeth. Red herrings abound in spades. Reading works by Golden Age mystery author E. C. R. Lorac is a marvellous treat. Getting my hands on all the British Crime Classics possible remains one of my greatest pleasures. My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this delightful hallmark whodunit! Perfect for lovers of Golden Age mysteries and those intrigued by them.

I won't recap the story because the publisher's blurb is pretty good and therefore no need. I enjoyed Martin Edwards' foreword and found the mystery to be sneaky and excellent. The writing was smooth and easily translates to most timeframes while making each of the characters clear and engaging. Besides, I am partial to the Crime Classics in general and Lorac in particular. Enjoy!

I have all eleven E. C. R. Lorac books published by British library crime, in fact the newest, eleventh reprint arrived whilst reading this book. Despite having all eleven this is only the second book I've read. I'm reading them in original publication order (or as close as) as I can and this was the earliest of the books I had when I picked it off the shelves. I enjoyed the book. It's very well written with good characters and a solid lead detective in Macdonald. The story is interesting and I found the resolution satisfying. Naturally it is of it's time. What do you expect from a book published in 1936? Remember when it was published when reading and account for it and this is still a great read. I must get more or lorac's books read this year and on the strength of this I'm looking forward to doing so.

I always look forward to a book by this author whatever pseudonym she is using! She describes her characters and settings vividly so that it holds my interest, even if I am not familiar with the background - here it is the academic world of universities at the start of the book. I became more interested as the story progressed and at the end, felt it was a most satisfying read. I hope there are more of her works to come in this excellent series.

E.C.R. Lorac’s 1936 book, Post After Post-Mortem, features her series detective, Chief Inspector Macdonald. It gives us the Surray family – all high-achievers, with the youngest daughter, Naomi, achieving a First in Greats at Oxford. Another daughter, Ruth, appears to kill herself between Chapters 2 and 3 and the post-mortem brings in that verdict. Sad, but understandable. Then Ruth’s brother, Robert, receives a letter from Ruth, posted the night of her death, fixing to see him later in the week and whose tone is the opposite of depressed. Does that mean she was murdered? Macdonald has to deal with a highly exasperating bunch of people. The family are concerned with protecting Ruth’s reputation and not wanting to cause her mother more distress. Acquaintances refuse to tell Macdonald what other people have said, telling him to ask them himself. One, Keith Brandon, is completely obnoxious and even Macdonald thinks, most uncharacteristically, “[…] if Brandon were hit hard enough and long enough somewhere in the region of his wind, things would look more satisfactory all round.” I didn’t work out “whodunnit” but the clues were there, if only I’d paid attention. It’s a well-plotted, well-written book, but I got so exasperated with the idiots who wouldn’t talk to Macdonald that I nearly threw the book across the room. Calming down, I think this was a compliment to the author: the reader is so drawn in, they forget that these are just characters in a story! The more Lorac books I read, the more I appreciate how talented she was and I wish I’d discovered her years ago.