''Death Before Dinner'' is a 1948 detective novel by

E.C.R. Lorac Edith Caroline Rivett (6 May 1894 – 2 July 1958) was a British crime writer, who wrote under the pseudonyms E. C. R. Lorac, Carol Carnac and Mary Le Bourne during the golden age of detective fiction. Life and career Childhood The youngest d ...

, the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirtieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, one of the detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.Reilly p.260 It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of ''A Screen for Murder''.

Synopsis

During World War II, in a London suffering from bombing raids, eight travellers and writers meet for a formal dinner at a highly-regarded French

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

. Each believes that they have been invited to become members of the highly prestigious Marco Polo Club, but when no officials of the club arrive they realise that they have been hoaxed. They continue with the dinner anyway but at the end a dead body is discovered. Is there a connection with the hoax? Was the dead man the hoaxer? Chief Inspector Macdonald investigates – and so do some of the other guests. Will more murders follow?

References

Bibliography

* Cooper, John & Pike, B.A. ''Artists in Crime: An Illustrated Survey of Crime Fiction First Edition Dustwrappers, 1920-1970''. Scolar Press, 1995. * Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. Garland Publishing, 1984. * Nichols, Victoria & Thompson, Susan. ''Silk Stalkings: More Women Write of Murder''. Scarecrow Press, 1998. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1948 British novels British mystery novels Novels by E.C.R. Lorac Novels set in London British detective novels Collins Crime Club books {{1940s-novel-stub