"It was wartime and Ursula Frinton wanted desperately to join some branch of the women's services -- any branch, so long as she could 'do her bit.' But Ursula, according to her family, had a history of heart trouble. Consequently, the young lady was very nervous about passing the medical.

"So she did the sensible thing. She had a London specialist give her a thorough examination and she went to the medical board with a little billet doux in hand stating, in no uncertain terms, that her heart was perfectly sound and always had been! Ursula figured she could sort that out later.

"But somebody at the medical board was ready for her.

"Poor Ursula."
~~frontispiece

A nice little English mystery -- who dunnit was pretty obvious (although there were some outside suspects) but the how it was done became the primary mystery. ( )

A nice little mystery taking place in an English village during WWII. Lots of insight into daily life during those times, and interesting characters. It was a fun read, not earth-movingly great, but certainly one I will pass on to my mystery loving friends. ( )

Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (1944 -- although this cover is the 1964 edition reissued by Ballantine), really couldn't be more wartime British. At every twist of the plot something turns around petrol rations, board reviews for military service, false doctor's certificates to avoid conscription, secret German spy rings, and the fact that it is apparently very hard to find lipstick in your favorite shade when the country is at war. Add to that the complicated inheritance rules surrounding British landowners with twin sons, and you have the makings of a rather complicated mystery on your hands.

Josephine Bell was a physician herself, and the medical parts of this mystery make it read like a 1940s CSI. In fact, our amateur-detective hero, David Wintringham (who is featured in many of Bell's books), is actually a doctor who just enjoys solving mysteries. Somehow his top-secret appointment for the war effort qualifies him to start investigating the mysterious death of Ursula Frinton, a young member of the local gentry who may or may not have had heart trouble and who drops dead at the Medical Board after being examined for war service. Her death is actually rather awesome (slight spoiler ahead, but it comes up rather early in the book so it doesn't give away too much): She gets it from a hypodermic needle filled with nicotine and embedded in her lipstick. When she twists the lipstick tube the needle is armed, and when she presses it to her lips, she is injected with the poisonous nicotine.

And then a bunch of other people start dying, and everyone seems to have a motive. Will Dr. Wintringham be able to solve the mystery before the murderer catches up to him? I'll just leave you in suspense on that one.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/03/death-at-medical-board-1944.html ] ( )