The Death Of Mr. Lomas
“Lomas was poisoned, shaved after death, and placed in the river. He is full of whisky and the post-mortem examination will undoubtedly prove that cocaine was in the alcohol. The murderer worked on him with a lavish hand, one so lavish that it may eventually prove to be his undoing.”
Description
“Lomas was poisoned, shaved after death, and placed in the river. He is full of whisky and the post-mortem examination will undoubtedly prove that cocaine was in the alcohol. The murderer worked on him with a lavish hand, one so lavish that it may eventually prove to be his undoing.”
When Mr. Lomas went to the Chief Constable of Burnham and described his symptoms, Sir Wilfred Burrows diagnosed nothing more serious than a bad case of nerves. Later that day Mr. Lomas’s body was recovered from the water at Willow Lock; yet death was not by drowning. Sir Wilfred recounted the interview to Inspector Knollis, who, realizing the significance of the evidence, was satisfied that Mr. Lomas was a victim of cocaine poisoning. In this, his first mystery, Knollis sets about the task of unmasking the murderer—with what we come to learn is his customary acuity.
The Death of Mr. Lomas was originally published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
Praise
“Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.” Observer
“A commendably fast-moving story of mystery and detection.” Liverpool Post
“Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.” Times Literary Supplement
Bibliographic Data
Category: Crime Fiction
Publication Date: October 2018
Territories: World
ISBN: 978 1 912574 27 8 (paperback)/978 1 912574 28 5 (ebook)