I Could Murder Her by E C R Lorac

A strange title isn't it? A domineering woman, ruining the lives of her children, a woman whom everybody in the family feels 'I could Murder her' is dead. Mrs. Farrington has died from an insulin overdose. Did the old doctor give a wrong dose? The Doctor dies in an accident and the new doctor refuses to sign the death certificate. Did one of her family give her an overdose? There are indications to show that Mrs. Farrington was murdered.

Who murdered her? There are plenty of motives and all her family wants her dead. There is the husband Colonel Farrington, Madge his daughter from an earlier marriage, Tony Strange, Mrs Farrington's son from an earlier marriage, Anne Strange, Tony's wife, Mrs. Farrington's daughter Joyce and her husband Philip and the twins, Paula and Peter. They all live together in the same house, under the eye of Mrs. Farrington who controls the purse strings. And by any chance, is it the case of an outsider? What does the open window and lost diamonds mean?

Inspector MacDonald is a no-frills, non-eccentric, sympathetic detective who solves the case and ties up all the loose ends giving us an enjoyable read. Lorac slowly builds up suspense and you anticipate that something would happen and something does happen, not something I was expecting. You can guess who the killer is, though there are some red herrings. I liked Inspector MacDonald better than Tey's Alan Grant, though they both represent the same kind of detective. I do think Grant is an eccentric though he is meant to be non-eccentric. But that is for another post.

I could murder her published in 1951 is the American title, the British title is Murder of a Martinet. I borrowed it from the Openlibrary

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