Tenant for Death

Tenant for Death is a 1937 detective novel by the British writer Cyril Hare.^[1] His debut novel, it was a reworking of a play Murder in Daylesford Gardens had written. It introduced his first detective character Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard who recurs through Hare's novels including in the series featuring the lawyer and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew.^[2] In style Mallett resembles Chief Inspector French, created by Freeman Wills Crofts.^[3]

Tenant for Death

Author	Cyril Hare
Language	English
Series	Inspector Mallett
Genre	Detective
Publisher	Faber and Faber Dodd, Mead (US)
Publication date	1937
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Followed by	Death Is No Sportsman

Synopsis

The body of financier Lionel Ballantine, whose pyramid of companies have just collapsed owing colossal sums of money, is discovered in a house in Daylesford Gardens in South Kensington. The property was rented by a Mr James, a mysterious man who seems to have vanished into thin air. Numerous figures appear to have a motive for killing Ballantine, but they are all able to provide alibis.