''Death Before Dinner'' is a 1948

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

by E.C.R. Lorac, the

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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 London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

, one of the detectives of the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Golden Age proper is usually taken to refer to works from that period, this type of f ...

who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases.Reilly p.260 It was published in the United States by

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

under the

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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 an establishment 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 Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

. 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