Before the Fact

Set in pre-WWII England, Before the Fact, tells the story of Lina McLaidlaw, a rather plain, bookish, lonely, almost 30 year old woman, who lives with her fairly well-off parents and is not expected to marry. When she meets the very handsome and charming Johnnie Asygarth at a picnic party, he sweeps her off her feet and she marries him to the dismay of her family. Lina later finds out that Johnnie is a penniless, lazy, incorrigible liar with a well-deserved bad reputation. Johnnie has no problem spending money he doesn't have, making promises he has no intention on keeping and living off his wife's income and largesse. Lina confronts Johnnie after every transgression, and like a small boy, Johnnie smiles and promises to reform. The book starts off differently than most mysteries in that the author lets you in on the ending (sort of) right at the beginning of the book. Having seen the wonderful Hitchcock movie (Suspicion) many times over the years, I thought I was prepared. However, the book not only has a different ending, it provides so much more detail on Johnnie and Lina's marriage. Lina is intelligent, not some ninny blindly believing that Johnnie walks on water--she is very much aware of his character or lack thereof, although you can feel her shock, as she discovers one uncomfortable truth after another about the man she married. The layers are slowly pulled back to reveal Johnnie as both the snake and the snake charmer. You feel for Lina who knows how amoral he is, but nevertheless allows him to do what he will. I've read about and even known women who reminded me of Lina, who believe that the love of a woman can reform a man. This was among the best thrillers I've read and it kept me in suspense until the very end...

This book is one of the mysteries on my Top Ten list. I believe it may be the best psychological mystery ever written. The Hitchcock film Suspicion, made in 1941 with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, is based on this book. The film is wonderful - romantic, suspenseful, perfectly cast, and an excellent character study. But it disappoints in one crucial respect - the movie studio insisted on a different (and very inferior) ending than the one in the book.So, read the book!! This book is so beautifully written, it stands as a very fine novel, in addition to its place as a mystery classic. A mood of suspense, fear and dread is maintained throughout. There has seldom been a more sympathetic and believable portrait of the reluctant spinster/wallflower than that of Lina. Her fascination with a charming self-centered (...), Johnny, is poignant and heartbreaking. Lina is swept off her feet by Johnny and impulsively marries him. As her relationship with Johnny deepens, Lina comes to suspect that her handsome husband may be more than an irresponsible (...). She is haunted by a terrifying question - has she married a murderer?Get a copy of this book if you can - you will not be disappointed!!

Francis Iles / Anthony Berkeley has always been one of my favourites, because his sense of humour is exactly what I enjoy most. His books are very clever and he's good at misleading - though not like traditional writers like Christie. His way of misleading is his own kind - and his sense of humour is very surprising. This is not haha-comedy, but something else.'Before the fact' has been filmed at least twice, the first one with Cary Grant as Johnnie ('Suspicion' by Hitchcock), so many may know the story but! both movies I've seen give a very different ending than this book, so be warned!Lina, the main character of the book is almost 30 years old and sure to end up as a spinster, when he meets charming Johnnie, who belongs to an old family but has a shady reputation. The description of how Johnnie charms Lina and how Lina falls for him has startled me with its psychological accuracy - and I was very worried about myself and thankful I'm not going to inherit 50 000 pounds, because too much of Lina seemed too familiar... Their relationship and Lina's attitude towards Johnnie and their marriage is one of the best things I've ever read - more so, when Iles succeeds to convey Lina's errors without pointing them out, just through Lina's own thoughts. Although Lina, of course, thinks she's right all the time. We know before Lina, just how faithful Johnnie really is, we in fact know Johnnie is a murderer, because in the first sentences the writer conveys: 'Some women give birth to murderers, some women marry them... Lina Aysgarth had been married for nearly 8 years before realizing he had married a murderer.' (Quotation by heart, not exact.) Iles really does it this time: he breaks all the rules of detective stories: he tells us there's a murder and who is the murderer, he lets us know the murder/s but we never really know, if they really are murders, we can just assume, and finally.... The ending is unlike anything in detective stories and left me stunned, laughing out of disbelief and then just laughing and thinking: how marvellous! And after all this it's easy to understand, how moviemakers have chosen another kind of ending - because it's still possible after all this. The options are left open. This really gives a most delicious, yet subtle, description of Lina and Johnnie. I bet you know people like these. In detective stories there are often amoral, charming men like Johnnie - Christie had several - and they are often described as rotten apples, unable to be anything else but still charming to women. Iles gives a fuller picture through Lina's eyes. Many times you wonder, why Lina stays and lets it all happen, but Iles creates her a personality that clearly can't do much more. She's been hypnotized by her own love, her own pride and who knows what. I'm not nearly as clever as Iles was. You read and find out. But beware of the ending!