With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare

This is more of a classic murder mystery than Photographs, with all the usual elements - the innocent victim, the multiple suspects, the intrigue, the confusion, the love interest, the surprise ending. It's richly populated with many different types of people and seasoned throughout with that lovely understated British humour. Both the murder and the eventual identity of the murderer came as complete surprises, and the foreshadowing that occurred was not too heavy-handed. Best of all, the climax was brief, sharp and complete, leaving no loose ends to frustrate the reader. My only complaint is that the protagonist (not, in this case, a police officer, but a bystander) shouldn't have got together with his secretary at the end. It was too obvious.