Bats in the Belfry

Book excerpt: A mysterious disappearance is at the center of Bats in the Belfry. Shortly after waving away a telephone request from a persistent caller named Debrette, Bruce Attleton leaves his home in Regent’s Park for Paris. He never arrives, but his suitcase turns up in a sculptor’s studio slated for renovation. After Attleton’s friend Neil Rockingham takes his concerns to DCI Macdonald, Macdonald soon discovers a corpse secreted in the studio. Unfortunately, the absence of a head or hands makes it hard to tell whether Debrette killed Attleton, Attleton killed Debrette, or some unrelated parties got involved. The possibilities seem endless, and that’s just if the body is really Attleton’s. The mystery is so complex, in fact, that Lorac requires the services of some aggressively facetious suspects, a low-key lead detective who’s a welcome change of pace, and an army of nondescript and interchangeable satellite police officers. Ah, those were the days.