Murder as a Fine Art

De: Carol Carnac

Narrado por: Mark Meadows

When a civil servant at the newly formed Ministry of Fine Arts is found crushed beneath a monstrous marble bust after dark, it appears to be the third instance in a string of fatal accidents at the department.

Already disturbed by rumours of forgeries and irregularities in the Ministry’s dealings, Minister Humphry David is soon faced with the possibility that among his colleagues is a murderer – though how the bust could have been made an instrument of death is a masterstroke of criminal devilment.

Taking charge of the case, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard enters a caustic world of fine art and civil service grievances to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight.

©1953 The Estate of Carol Carnac (P)2025 Soundings

I’m a fan of ECR Lorac

I am a fan of ECR Lorac aka Carol Carnac. Julian Rivers is not your MacDonald, however I do like them both. This one was a good read and I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Meadows as narrator.

Great author

Under any name, I love her novels. ECR Lorac is such a talented writer. Narrator was good, too.

Fascinating at many levels!

I liked the whole setting and its premise. I liked the author’s attempt to imagine the clash between the bureaucratic and the avant garde of any era. Oddly, she seems to grant that traditional art is something the civil servant might comprehend or manage while the modern is not. One must remember that this was written just after WWII. Our notions of what art is and its role in society have expanded vastly…at least until recent months (2025). It is timely to read a book that questions whether a bureaucracy can manage, showcase, or process information if that bureaucracy is unaware of the significance or meaning of that information? Carnac was herself an artist. We know nothing of her work, though. She discusses modernism very simplistically, her plot is rather contrived, depending greatly on amazing intuition, and the time frame is totally improbable, but for reasons apart from all of that, it’s a great book.

If you like Carol Carnac you will enjoy this book

I very much enjoy Carol Carnac but this story was not as entertaining as others. Mark Meadows saved the book for me. I liked the back and forth banter regarding modern art vs traditional art, seems like we have the same discussions today. The problem was the characters lacked dimension, I don't recommend this if you are not interested in classic mystery, if you are it is worth a credit.