Review of Fire in the Thatch by ECR Lorac

Fire in the Thatch is a murder mystery by ECR Lorax. It is the 26th book in her investigator MacDonald series but the first book of hers I’ve read. ECE Lorac was a contemporary of Agatha Christie in the Golden Age of Crime Mysteries in the early 1900s.

The victim in Fire in the Thatch is someone who I liked and held in high esteem which feels a bit different from the other books I’ve read from this time period of which the victims are unlikable or unknown.

I fully enjoyed the plot and the everyday war-time life of farmers and lease tenancy that Lorac gives us in this Devon mystery. I was also fully invested in uncovering the “whodunit” mystery.

I will say, however, even if a reader is able to guess the killer’s identity (which I was not able to do!), I doubt many readers will be able to predict the “why” aspect of the murder, as it’s not something easily guessed at.

I am now hooked on Lorac’s writing, and hope to read more of her books in the coming year!

I am still fully ensconced in autumn reading, and if you are too, or want to be, gothic fantasy might be the perfect genre choice.