A Will in the Way

A Will in the Way is a mystery novel by the English writer Cecil John Charles Street, published in 1947. It is the thirty-sixth book in his series about Inspector Arnold and the amateur detective Desmond Merrion.

The body is found by Esther Kesgrave, who has been a maid in the service of the Botesdale family for many years. She comes across the second Mrs Botesdale lying dead at the foot of the basement stairs on her return from a visit to her master, the dead woman's husband, who is a certified lunatic confined in a mental home.

The death looks accidental at first. The lady was alone when she fell, however, which means that police investigations and an inquest cannot be avoided, and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard is called in to conduct them.

Arnold's eye for detail soon turns up several facts that do not sit with an accident. Among them are a tea-caddy and a tea-tray of china with almost no fingerprints on it, which is not what a tray that has just been used ought to show. With his old friend Desmond Merrion working alongside him, he settles into one of the most baffling cases of his career.