The Theft of the Iron Dogs: A Lancashire Mystery (1946) by E.C.R. Lorac

🤎 The Theft of the Iron Dogs is book no. 28 of Robert Macdonald series, and another of Lancashire Mysteries, a series of rural mystery sets in Lunesdale, where Lorac had spent her life. This is apparently Macdonald first encounter with Giles and Kate Hoggetts, who will return in Crook o' Lune, which I have read earlier this year. WW2 had just been over, and Robert Macdonald has been investigating a coupon-racketeer case of a Gordon Ginner, when he received a letter from Mr. Hoggett from Lunesdale, Lancashire. The fine writing caught his interest, and so, Macdonald stopped by at the Hoggetts' farm, on his way of his investigation. Giles Hoggett turnout out to be an ex bookseller in London, who then moved to Lunesdale to farm. He and his wife Kate were two very interesting character in this book, and between them, they provided fine observation and deduction, crucial to Macdonald's investigation.

🤎 Giles Hoggett owned a cottage, and one day when he passed by, he noticed that the wood pile in front of the cottage had been disturbed. Suspicious, he checked inside, and found that some items were missing: his old coat, a set of iron dogs (or andirons for fireplace), a reel of salmon line, a big sack, and an old curtain. For a theft, it was strange, because none of the more precious items were taken. Macdonald first treated this case as an amusement - sort of a holiday, since he loved rural village and farming. However, he soon realized that this strange case might, somehow, have been related to his Gordon Ginner case. It was Macdonald himself who had found Ginner's corpse, tucked into a cave down the Lune River, when he (Macdonald) was swimming with Giles Hoggett. From then on, this became a serious case, where Inspector Reeves from Scotland Yard joined forces with him.

🤎 Everyone suspected a potter named Ruben Gold as the perpetrator, both the theft and murder. But Kate Hoggett offered the best analysis of them all, which Macdonald took an appreciative agreement. Who, then, was the culprit? Was it a painter who lived there? At least Macdonald found that he knew Gordon Ginner, but did it make him the murderer? Or was it an outsider, as Giles Hoggett suspected?

🤎 As a murder mystery, it's not a sophisticated one. It is the farming aspect that provides the central attraction here. The whole atmosphere is relaxed, full of camaraderie, and satiated. I think, from several I have read so far, this is the one where Macdonald laughed most - Reeves and Hoggetts's wrestling, or Reeves's cooking, are rare scenes in any murder mystery! What I loved most is when Macdonald listened attentively and appreciatively to the Hoggetts' analysis, and also one or two other farmers. He (Macdonald) was far from condescending; on the contrary, he really enjoyed those conversations. It's just another proof that Macdonald should belong to these people, instead of his peers in London. In a whole, this was a delightful mystery; from theft to murder, while on the interval, we were entertained with countryside air and view, complete with the smell of flowers, hay, and cattle.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2