Death on the Riviera

First published in 1952, this welcome reissue in the British Library crime classics series takes Bude’s Detective-Inspector Meredith of the C.I.D. and his assistant, Acting-Sergeant Freddy Strang, to the French Riviera, where they get on the trail of a counterfeiter connected with a black market money-changing scam—and are drawn into the lives of the strange ménage at Villa Paloma, the home of rich widow Nesta Hedderwick. There are occasional splashes of witty dialogue and luscious descriptions of the French Riviera; also, every suspect has at least one guilty secret. The mystery trots along at a good pace, although those who expect the death mentioned in the title to occur early on, as it undoubtedly would today, should relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride; you’ll get there eventually. Old-fashioned English slang—detectives “take a dekko” at the crime scene, villainous chaps are described as bad hats, and farewells call for a jaunty “cheerio”—adds to the period charm. (Mar.)