Someone from the Past: A London Mystery (British Library Crime Classics)
書籍情報
- 出版社
- British Library Publishing
- 発売日
- 2023-12-10
- ページ数
- 256ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 13 x 1.37 x 19 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780712354738
- ISBN-10
- 0712354735
- 価格
- 2538 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/British Detectives
Then I felt his warm hand grow cold, it was as if he had been reminded of death. He wasn't looking at me any more, but obliquely, across the restaurant. I turned round.' Sarah has been receiving threatening anonymous letters, seemingly from a former lover. Just one day after revealing this information to her co-worker Nancy, Sarah is found shot in her bedroom by one of her past flames, Donald. Hearing the news and desperate to clear any evidence of Donald's presence at the scene due to her own infatuations, Nancy finds herself as the key suspect when she is discovered in the apartment. As the real killer uses the situation to their advantage, Bennett crafts a tense and nuanced story through flashbacks to Sarah's life and loves in this Gold-Dagger-award-winning, Hitchcockian story of deceit and murder.
Margot Bennett (1912-1980) was a Scottish author and screenwriter who penned a small, though influential, number of crime, thriller and science fiction novels. Her novels The Man Who Didn't Fly and The Widow of Bath have been republished as British Library Crime Classics.
レビュー
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The first person narrator is witty and erudite but she is stupid. Ultimately she is not likeable and gets her just desserts.
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I suppose I should start by saying that the writing is excellent and the grammar perfect. However, the first-person narrator is a selfish, thoughtless nitwit. None of the characters are likeable. The victim died for no real reason. Apparently the author only published this one book. Good.
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This is an outstanding work of crime fiction, a real page-turner, the well meaning Nancy finds herself getting deeper and deeper in trouble by telling the police a never ending string of lies in an effort to protect an innocent man from a murder charge. The author has the ability to confuse and amuse the reader as the story unfolds and the outcome is always in doubt until the final pages. A truly great read.
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After having problems with aspects of both of the previous reissues ,I hoped that such a highly praised issue would solve them all ! As a crime fiction novel it was ok I guess. The detection was secondary in many ways and the main character Nancy was infuriatingly unhelpful and obscure in her varied answers . The " murder method" was so so and rather unlikely for some forensic reasons . In addition I found the ending to be a cop out ,and a chance to throw in a really good red herring was wasted . However....much of the writing when reading as a novel was brilliant . I did end up caring about some of the ,mainly obnoxious , people . The descriptions of the " escape" to Plymouth were so vivid and hideously realistic. Hence the impossibility of giving a one off score. A very fair price ; a helpful intro from Martin Edwards ; a sense that quality prose does have a place at all levels. Overall a good read. I can see why she moved away from crime fiction writing after this book and am still mildly puzzled by all the accolades .
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Not really my cup of tea for a British Library mystery. I’m sure the primary focus on dialogue is wonderful for those who enjoy that sort of thing but I’ll take Inspectors MacDonald or French any day.
関連する文学賞
- CWA KAA Gold Dagger 第4回（1958年） ・Winner