Suicide Excepted

An Inspector Mallett mystery, originally published in 1939, by one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers, Cyril Hare. Inspector Mallett's stay at the country house hotel of Pendlebury Old Hall has been a disappointment. Room, food and service have been a letdown and he eagerly anticipates the end of his holiday. His last trial is to sit and listen when an elderly and boorish man, whose family once owned the house, joins his table. The next day the man is dead and Mallett unwittingly finds himself investigating the suspicious 'suicide'. 'Adroit in its manipulation ... and distinguished by a plot-twister which I'll wager Christie wishes she'd thought of.' New York Times 'Mr Hare's controlled ingenuity and lively, sardonic characterization put Suicide Excepted in a very high class.' Observer