The Dead Songbird

Major Vernon has been requested by a visiting opera singer to visit with her.  He has no idea why, and invites Dr. Carswell to join him.  They find out from her, that she had received a note, which threatens her life.  She has had several in the past.

While discussing the matter with her, Vernon is called out because a body has been found.  When they get there, Carswell discovers that the man is not long dead.  Why was he arranged so peacefully?  They soon learn that the young man was a singer in the church choir.  Carswell’s post-mortem determines that the victim had been strangled with a ligature of some sort.

The following evening, on his way home from a dinner party, Carswell is shocked by a scream coming from the diva’s house.  Upon investigating, he finds that someone had left a dead bird on the bed with a ribbon around its neck.  However, the diva states that she is more frightened by the notes than a dead bird.

Meanwhile, Carswell has somehow become engaged to a young woman to whom he has chatted with a couple of times.  How will he extricate himself from that?  And, Vernon has let his foremost prime suspect slip through his fingers.

Author Harriet Smart has things well in hand for Carswell and Vernon, although it is not an easy task.  They will have their trials and tribulations along the way.  A good, quick read.