'Shadow On The Wall' is one of a series of novels and short stories which feature Reginald Fortune. Written during the period 1920 to 1940,they are a product of their age and some of the upper-class goings-on will not go down well with the modern reader.Dorothy Sayers Peter Wimsey is a better example of this type of detective than is Reginald Fortune. Fortune is a is a doctor who spends most of his time acting as a Special Advisor to the police,
This is the first full-length novel in which Fortune appears and it begins with him being invited to a ball at the home of Lady Rosnay. During the entertainment she falls,or is pushed down the stairs and loses her tiara. This begins a series of events which include not only the obligatory murders,but some seemingly random cruelty and mischief-making.
Fortune solves the case in the end,but not without sacrificing several innocent (or part innocent) people as he does so.
Certainly darker than other writers of the period,and not without interest. ( )