Murder of a Lady (also called The Silver Scale Mystery) is a 1931 mystery novel by Anthony Wynne, a pseudonym of Robert McNair Wilson. It's the twelfth novel to feature Dr. Eustace Hailey, a doctor and psychiatrist who also works as a detective.
Mary Gregor, sister of the Laird of Duchlan, is found stabbed to death in her room. The door was locked from the inside and the windows were barred. The only clue is a silver fish scale beside Mary's body. Dr. Hailey arrives to investigate the crime.
The book was reprinted in 2015 (for the first time since its original publication in 1931) as part of the British Library Crime Classics series.
Contains examples of:
- Anyone Can Die: Five people are dead by the end: Mary Gregor, Inspector Dundas, Inspector Barley, Hamish Gregor, and Christina. Four are murders and the last is a suicide.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Duchlan insists Mary was kind and charitable. She drove his wife to insanity and suicide, and was trying to do the same to Oonagh.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Almost everyone calls Hamish Gregor "Duchlan", because he's the Laird of Duchlan.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: Eoghan's wife Oonagh bears an eerie resemblance, physically and mentally, to his mother Kathleen. Mary drove both women almost insane too.
- Locked Room Mystery: Mary's death. The police can only assume the murderer climbed up a rope and got in through the window. Actually the murder was committed from above. Mary looked out the window, and Christina dropped a block of ice on her head. It shattered and a sharp piece of ice stabbed Mary in the chest.
- Murder-Suicide: Attempted when Eoghan takes Dr. McDonald out in his boat. He plans to sink the boat and drown both of them so everyone will assume one of them was the murderer. Dr. Hailey guesses what he's planning, stows away on the boat, and interrupts him before he can go through with it.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Christina is so appalled that she kills herself when she discovers she accidentally murdered Duchlan instead of Dr. Hailey.
- Never One Murder: The murderer is forced to commit three more murders to prevent the truth coming out about Mary's murder.
- Red Herring: The fish scales. (You have to wonder if McNair Wilson did this deliberately for the pun.) The axe used to cut the blocks of ice was also used to cut up fish. Some of the fish scales got stuck on the ice that was dropped on the victims' heads, so the detectives find scales beside the bodies and assume it means the murderer is a fisherman and/or is trying to put the blame on legendary creatures said to live in the loch.
