Somebody at the Door: British Library Crime Classics by Raymond Postgate

Gossip can kill.  If only people minded their own business and not everyone else's.

Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published December 5th.

This story wanders around a bit.  You hear about other characters before you get to the meat of the story.  A man dies at home.  His wife finally calls the doctor.  The doctor isn't sure if the death was natural or not, so another doctor is called in.  The second doctor said someone had used mustard gas to kill him.  The unfortunate part of the tale is how many people hated him.  This man had no compassion for anyone.  No one was sparing any on him either.

The Inspector has to look at all those on the train with him to try to determine if he was infected then.  There are facts, there are coincidences and with so many that could be guilty, it's hard to nail down who was most motivated.  At the end, he finally does.  I was surprised.  Usually I have an idea of the murderer, but not in this story.  The writer weaves his magic and only shows his cards at the end.

This was a good mystery.  I like to see the older novels come to life again.  They are still good reads.