Engaged to Murder by M.V. Heberden
Published in 1949.
The edition of Engaged to Murder I picked up was a reprint from Jacques Barzun’s series of overlooked mystery novels. It’s a fairly classical dinner party murder puzzler, in which a groom-to-be is stabbed to death by one of a group of suspects present, all with a plausible motive. The book is set in Argentina just after WWII, but nearly every character is European or American, with the local population only showing up in the form of (not terribly effective) policemen and servants. Rick Vanner, a guest at the party, has a knack for crime solving and an interest in clearing the main suspect, his friend, who is discovered standing over the dead body with a dagger in his hand. There is some tasty political intrigue, with whiffs of Nazi collaboration, and a satisfying resolution.