Merely Murder

Originally published in England under the title Death in the Stocks
Copyright 1935 by Georgette Heyer

Synopsis:
When Arnold Vereker was found stabbed, no one seemed to be particularly disturbed, and Inspector Hannasyde found nothing unusual in the murder -- until he met the Vereker heirs. He discovered that Vereker's nephew Kenneth, his niece Antonia, and their respective fiancés, Rudolph and Violet, looked upon the murder as a particularly pleasant happening. They seemed to enjoy being suspects, which they logically were, and in proving to him how easy both in deed and in fact it would have been for any one of them to have killed Vereker. They delighted in tying nooses around each other's necks, in laying false trails, in annoying the police, and, a side issue, in driving the inspector frantic.
The problem the inspector had to face was whether these four were the charming, intelligent, though perfectly infuriating people they seemed to be, or whether they were more cunning than any murder suspects he had ever encountered. Were they pulling his leg, or were they deliberately tricking him?
With the second murder the inspector gave up in despair, admitting that the family was too much for him. The solution to the baffling though perfectly plausible crimes comes through other channels and as a distinct surprise.
Here is a grand combination of baffling mystery, sustained suspense, and mad humor.

An undated edition: Published by Sundial Press, Inc., Garden City, NY