A review by robinwalter
Death in the Dark by Moray Dalton

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

 In general, I don't read mystery novels with the intent of trying to figure out whodunnit. I lack the intellectual wherewithal. Which is why it is not a recommendation of this book that I figured out whodunnit well before halfway. The chimps in the private zoo featured in the novel would also have figured it out well before halfway. 

 

I really like Inspector Collier, he is one of my favourite golden age of serious detectives. This is my eighth Moray Dalton and my seventh Inspector Collier. It is TECHNICALLY an Inspector Collier story but he literally doesn't turn up until the story is two-thirds complete (65% on my Kobo Sage ereader, in the interests of exactitude). By that time my interest in the story was almost as dead as the murder victim. 

 

As with others in the Dean Street Press reissues of the Moray Dalton Collier stories, this one features an introduction by Curtis Evans. His introductions are always worth reading and this one had some thoughtful insights on the sociopolitical background against which the story was written, and on  the way Dalton's own sensibilities were reflected in the story. In hindsight, it may be telling that his intro says very little about the story itself. 

 

The first third of the book is the murder and the set up of the innocent framee. This takes longer than it needs to because the account of what happened on the night of the murder is given three times. First, as it happens then when the victim of the frame up recounts it to his sister, and then again in court. After that, the sister gets a letter from Collier's stepson which eventually leads to her rushing off to see if she can find out the truth about what happened. This involves going undercover at a spooky pseudo-Gothic mansion with a private zoo, and within a few pages of her arrival the culprit should be clear to any multicellular organism with more than one synapse. 

 

As a consequence of this there is little tension in the story. The identity of the culprit being so obvious means that the progression of the story is also not so much telegraphed as megaphoned, and Collier's role is less investigator/detective/mystery solver more white knight, rushing to try to keep the body count to a minimum. 

 

Evans' introduction does mention the dénouement of the story which is easily the most gripping part of the book. At the very end there is a palpable sense of tension. For me,  that tension was followed by relief - primarily relief that I had finished the book.