NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CASE
By
When her widowed Uncle Walter dies accidentally, shy and colorless young Virginia Gould (who has kept house for her uncle-by-marriage) inherits a very substantial house and furnishings--which infuriates Waiter's nephew and chief legatee Nigel Kerslake, a haughty, dishonest antique dealer. First Nigel does his best to spread suspicion that Virginia engineered Waiter's fatal accident. Then, when Virginia is completely cleared and moves to a tiny town far away, Nigel discovers her whereabouts and blackmails her (she's an awfully spineless heroine) into buying something for him from Pearl Luppitt, a local bric-a-brac dealer. So, when Pearl's strangled body is found in the wreckage of a local fire (in the midst of a blizzard), Detective Chief Superintendent Pollard soon uncovers the connections with Virginia and Nigel . . . which, indeed, have ""nothing to do with the case."" Lemarchand, in fact, concentrates rather more on Virginia's courtship with a local policeman--and the result is a pleasant mystery-romance, never compelling but (with a nice English-village ambience) better than other recent Lemarchand productions.