This review is for the LARGE PRINT edition (Linford Mystery Library, published 1998) of this mystery which was originally penned in 1960. Victor Gunn is a pseudonym for Edwy Searles Brooks (1889-1965). Brooks also wrote under the pen names Berkeley Gray, Rex Madison, and Carlton Ross.

This Scotland Yard thriller features Inspector Cromwell, better known to his fans as "Ironsides". A young nurse, Stella Pemberton, lands a high-paying job at a private clinic on the lonely moor where she's to provide close personal care for a rich Spanish lady who's convalescing there. Her new boss, Dr. Mayhew is an autocratic tyrant who desires to totally control both the professional and the personal lives of all the employees at his clinic.

As Stella approaches the moor in her aging car, a heavy fog sets in around her and she hears a scream just as she's stopped at a signpost. She walks on to the moor through the fog to investigate and soon stumbles over a dead man whose face has been bashed in... then a local sheep farmer scares the wits out of her as he approaches her in the fog, having heard her scream.

The dead man turns out to be a suspicious American tourist who had been lodged in the nearby village. Pretty soon, suspects abound, including the local baronet, a porter at the clinic, two farmers, and even Dr. Mayhew, none of which have an alibi and all of whom having foul tempers. Inspector Cromwell has his hands full with this noxious group and he catches additional heat from the local chief constable who has very different ideas about how to solve the crime.

This is a pretty good entry but certainly true to Gunn's "bare bones" approach to character development. The setting for murder could not be better, though, and this is a fast-paced read. In the LARGE PRINT (softcover) edition the book runs for a total of 379 pages.

I can definitely recommend this one for any fan of older traditional British murder mysteries

I liked the Setting in the English Country side and Chiefinspector cromwell and Johnny Lister are always a delight. I read it Long ago in Translation but that was not the real Thing. Too bad no more new Victor gunn books: