Freeman Wills Crofts 
The Starvel Hollow Tragedy 

When fire strikes the home of her miserly uncle, his ward, Ruth Averill, is spared solely by a chance invitaiton from friends. When her uncle’s body is pulled from the charred ruins the next day, the death is ruled accidental…and the fortune he kept in cash is thought destroyed. But when bank notes supposedly burned begin turning up, Inspector French investigates a case that will ultimately involve murder and arson. A classic from the Golden Age of detective fiction.