Impact of Evidence (1954) by Carol Carnac

Carol Carnac was one of the pennames Edith Caroline Rivett used for writing her mystery novels, although you might be more familiar with her other pseudonym, E. C. R. Lorac. This is only the second Carnac book that I have read, as they tend to be scarcer than the Lorac ones. The British Library reprinted Crossed Skis (1952) a few years ago, which I remember enjoying. The Saturday Review of Literature wrote favourably of Impact of Evidence writing that the ‘setting, personnel [are] deftly, truly drawn; humour high, action fast’ and they summed up that you ‘can’t miss here’.

Carnac’s family, according to Martin Edwards who writes the introduction to the British Library reprint, were very helpful when he was researching her life and the background to Impact of Evidence. Regarding this mystery they ‘pointed out that, in many ways, the topography of this novel bears strong resemblance to that of Lunesdale, which was where Carol’s sister Maud and her husband lived.’ They further added that ‘in wintry conditions the road out of the top of Aughton, where Carol lived in a house called “Newbanks”, bears a strong resemblance to Hollybanks hill in the book […]’. Martin ‘wonder[s] if her decision to set the story on the Welsh border rather than in Lunesdale was an attempt to differentiate the book from Lorac’s mysteries such as The Theft of the Iron Dogs and Crook O’Lune, and to reinforce the fiction that Carol Carnac and E. C. R. Lorac were two different people.’

Synopsis

‘Near St. Brynneys in the Welsh border country, isolated by heavy snow and flooding from the thaw, a calamity has occurred. Old Dr. Robinson, a known ‘menace on the roads’, has met his end in a collision with a jeep on a hazardous junction. But when the police arrive at the scene, a burning question hints at something murkier than mere accident: why was there a second body―a man not recognised by any locals―in the back of Robinson’s car? As the local inspectors dive into the muddy waters of this strange crime, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing are summoned from Scotland Yard to the windswept wilds, where danger and deceit lie in wait.’

Overall Thoughts

The opening chapter introduces Dr Robinson’s bad driving via a conversation on a farm. Yet this conversation serves more than one purpose, as it establishes some of the key farming figures in the story and it was interesting to note the generational conflict that the older doctor’s driving creates. The younger family members think the police should take Dr Robinson off the road, yet the older patriarch disagrees, having something sympathy for an elderly man who has few pleasures left in life due to ill health. Instead, they place an emphasis on the younger generation keeping out of the doctor’s way on the road. However, once the crash occurs this causes some feelings of guilt and remorse. Would the doctor have been spared if he had been banned from driving?

Early in the story we are made aware that previously there have been ten days of snow, which has cut the area off from much interaction with the outside world, including the telephone lines being down. The snow is melting now but that brings more testing times as there is severe flooding, which limits and then severs all road access. It is not for nothing that later in the book the local magistrate has to call in the army to provide logistical support. Yet before this point the weather makes it a hellish experience for the local farmers to even reach the crash site when the vehicles collide.

In keeping with her other rural stories, Carnac presents the harsh realities of farming and I think this creates an interesting contrast with the countryside-set mysteries set in previous decades where the focus might be more likely centred on a glamorous snow bound country house. Setting has always been a strength of this writer and I think in this tale, she uses the environmental challenges to great effect, impacting every aspect of the investigation. Furthermore, the setting accentuates the drama and tension of the plot. As it is the local magistrate, Colonel Wynne has to ride his 18 hands-high horse through the flood waters to let the authorities know about the incident and to gather supplies. Stereotypically local magistrates in classic crime fiction can be quite passive, lazy, or narrow-minded, so it was nice to see Wynne was a proactive and helpful character, who took care of his horse and who bothered to buy lots of supplies for the farmers before coming back across the flood waters in a military amphibious vehicle.

The car crash which is the catalyst for the police investigation has a number of intriguing points. Firstly, there is the second body in the doctor’s car, a man no one recognises and who died well before the doctor. This places suspicion on the farmers – was their heroic rescue a camouflage for a darker deed? The farmers also realise how little they know about the doctor, a man who is hard to trace back further than the year he arrived in the area, 1940.

Scotland Yard officer, Chief Inspector Julian Rivett has a more dynamic entry point into the case, as he is only asked in after the local inspector ends up with broken bones and concussion, after tripping and falling down the doctor’s staircase. This occurs in a locked house, but is there anything more to the incident? With Scotland Yard’s resources, identifying the mystery corpse and the past of the doctor becomes easier. However, two other questions remain stubbornly unanswered until the end: How did the second man arrive in the area when it had been cut off by snow? What was the corpse doing in the doctor’s car? A trap is necessary to catch the culprit and the setting is made full use of, to make this a more dramatic finale.

This was a story where I wanted to find out more and see what happened next. Nevertheless, I am undecided how satisfying the choice of killer is. Part of me can see how such a culprit has some good misdirection attached to it, so perhaps it is the way the murderer is caught, which appealed less.

Rating: 4/5

Source: Review Copy (British Library)

P.S. If you want a change from using the phrase ‘stick out like a sore thumb’ then why not try the phrase, ‘stick out like organ stops’ instead.