Credit where it’s due. Brown tells a good story. His characters are interesting and the plot has its clever red herrings and twists. However, there’s not a lot for the reader to do. The structure of the plot gives strong hints of what is coming, and while the details may not be invariably predicted, there remains a strong feeling that “I saw that coming!” There’s an inordinate amount of alcohol consumed by the characters. One wonders how they don’t all die young. ( )

In 1956 Ralph Ryland and Donald Langham are employed by Lord Elsmere of Neston Manor to solve the mystery of his missing painting. A painting that disappeared overnight, but would be unable to leave the room it was housed in due to its size. While solving the case a dead body is then discovered. But who would have a motive.
An enjoyable and interesting well-written mystery, which is easily read as a standalone story within this good series.
A NetGalley Book ( )

Crime fiction, bizarrely, is likely more technology-dependent than science fiction. The mobile phone has, for example, pretty much killed half of the standard crime novel plots… And who needs private detectives when you have the internet? Which makes it more difficult to come up with interesting stories for current-day crime or mystery novels. So some writers have chosen to write historical mysteries, and so bypass the issue. Such as these by Eric Brown, the Langham and Duprée series, which are set during the 1950s. As a conceit, it works fine, and Brown handles the period extremely well. But… Well, it does seem all a bit cosily familiar. I mean, it’s not “chocolate-box England” by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s certainly a time and place that has been extensively colonised – particularly by those who were present during that time and place – although not always with fictions that gave any real indication of what the period was actually like. The advantage of a series such as Brown’s is that it offers twenty-first century commentary on 1950’s sensibilities, and it’s to this series’s credit that it judges the mix to a nicety. This book, the sixth of the series, sees the protagonists investigating the theft of an expensive painting at a country house, which then leads to murder. The crimes are solved relatively easily, but what makes Murder Served Cold (the titles are a joke that has overrun its course) more interesting than others of its type is that it comments intelligently on social mores of the time. It’s the secondary characters who carry the meat of the story, and that strikes me as something a lot of crime writers with flagship characters seem to forget. Brown uses his story to discuss a variety of topics that were around in the 1950 but still reflect on twenty-first century society. It’s a clever trick, and it works well – although I suspect not all readers will recognise what’s going on. The protagonists’ politics, for example, is diametrically opposed to that of their client, and while relations remain amicable there is political commentary in there. It’s nice to see a 1950s-set novel with a 21st century spin. I mean, there were lots of excellent novels written and published in the 1950s, but there are a lot of 21st century novels set in the 1950s which do little to engage with the mores and politics of that time. I hope this series continues. ( )

Thanks to Severn House Press and Netgalley for providing a copy of this eBook. The views expressed are my own.
The residents of Lord Elsmere's Neston Manor in rural England are enduring a wintry November 1956. Private detectives Don Langham and Ralph Ryland arrive from London to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Elsmere's prized Gainsborough painting. The painting went missing from Elsmere's locked study several days before. The police can find no signs of a forced entry and suspect him of an insurance fraud. The detectives have been hired to find the painting which is his lordship's sole valuable asset. He is short of money to finance the manor and has had to sub-divide it into flats which are let out to mostly paying guests who become the suspect pool in subsequent events.
"Murder Served Cold" is a unique two-stage country house mystery story. The locked room mystery of the missing painting evolves into a murder investigation when the body of one of the prime suspects in the painting theft is found in a nearby field. The residents of the manor house, the obvious suspects, are a colourful lot and provide Langham and Ryland with plenty of material to work with in finding the killer.
The story is set against the background of the austerity of post WW2 England. The war is still fresh in the minds of people, foreigners and outsiders are viewed with suspicion. Small villages continue to exist much as in the past, rail travel to London is the norm although the automobile is becoming more common. The local pub is the centre of the village and the place to hear all the gossip. The author has done a good job of representing the English countryside. Some of the English slang can be a challenge for North American readers to interpret.
In the final analysis, this is a well-balanced combination of strong narration, a small cast of colourful characters, and a strong finish with a clever twist that closes it down nicely. It will fare well in any comparison to the work of Agatha Christie. This is the 5th book in a developing series and can easily be read as a standalone. In this series entry, the focus is mostly on the detective team, rather than on the romantic one and Langham's crime writing career is on hiatus.
A good read and recommended. ( )