Ferrars, Elizabeth

(British, 1907–95)

Elizabeth Ferrars' crime-writing career spanned more than half a century. In that time she established herself as a reliable and prolific creator of mysteries in the classic British tradition. Five early books featured an amateur detective called Toby Dyke, but she later wrote many ‘one-off’ novels. Her regular characters included an estranged couple, Virginia and Felix Freer, who first appear in Last Will and Testament (1978), and Andrew Basnett, a retired professor of botany who keeps stumbling across murder. Even in her eighties Ferrars was producing enjoyable, crisply written stories such as Answer Came There None (1992). Her quality of output was so even that it is difficult to pick out particularly outstanding titles, but perhaps The Small World of Murder (1973) and Skeleton in Search of a Cupboard (1982) show this entertaining writer at her best.

Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh  ME