The Ghost It Was has some good 1930's humor and dialogue. Richard Hull has wrote a good mystery with some interesting characters. It had a full dull spots but picked up at the end.

Agora offered me this as an ARC and, being a fan of RIchard Hull I couldn't resist - he's a totally underrated author!
I will not offer my own synopsis since Amazon's is quite adequate, any more giving away spoilers. The 'hero', Gregory Spring-Benson (what a name!) is a total dilettante who it seems impossible not to like - his unashamed greed and contempt towards his rich uncle compare quite favourably with the other four insipid nephews and nieces in the house.
That's what I really like about Hull: his characters are always just that little bit overdrawn - not enough to be caricatures but enough to mutter "Oh really?" - - or "Oh really!"
As to the plot and the ending - very cleverly disguised! In retrospect the culprit is both clearly obvious and yet practically impossible - Hull just about plays fair with his readers but an AWFUL lot of explaining by the detectives in the last chapter is needed to convince the reader that the 'contrivances' were reasonable, including harking back to the sixteenth century!!
But overall a rollicking good read - chuckles galore at the antics of the background characters, (including the mysterious butler!) and a well-paced gallop - not too many red herrings, but those there are stood on their heads by the author! By no means light-hearted but still excellent fun - as Hull always seems to be. Recommended.

A winning combination!

Black comedy, unpleasant and acquisitive relations, a rich elderly uncle, hidden treasure, a ghost, a mysterious tower, spiritualism… what more could a fan of Golden Age detection wish for?

The writing, characterisation and plotting are all top notch and Hull is one of the few 1930’s writers whose dialogue does not seem dated.

This is very readable, most enjoyable and highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for the digital review copy.

Eccentric and annoying wealthy old man who has recently become a spiritualism enthusiast gathers his family, including his scheming nephews, around him - what could possibly go wrong?  Full of Hull’s characteristic wit and humor and a cast of colorful characters, a very enjoyable read.  It’s a tad slow before anyone dies, but becomes quite riveting thereafter.