Malice Aforethought

Malice Aforethought is one of the earliest and finest examples of the inverted detective story – we know who committed the crime, the question is, will he get away with it?Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an afterword by crime writing expert and award-winning writer Barry Forshaw.Dr Edmund Bickleigh and his insufferable wife Julia are hosting a tennis party where gossip rivals tennis as the most interesting sport. The seemingly genteel doctor is unable to tolerate Julia’s incessant henpecking any longer, and as his passion for the mysterious Madeleine Cranmere grows so does his resolve to murder his wife . . . Set in stuffy 1920s England and told from the perspective of the devious Dr Bickleigh himself, Malice Aforethought is impeccably plotted and darkly comic.

A fascinating insight into a troubled mind, and a gripping thriller, the novel has been twice adapted for television with Hywel Bennett and Ben Miller in the main part, This classic crime novel, with its focus on the mindset of a murderer, set the genre in a new direction, A pioneer of psychological suspense fiction with a seasoning of cynical wit

Francis Iles was one of the pseudonyms for Anthony Berkeley Cox (1893–1971). He was born in Watford and served in World War I before working as journalist for Punch and The Humorist magazines. He wrote his first novel in 1925 and enjoyed success with his many detective books and short stories. In 1930 he co-founded the famous Detection Club alongside famous crime writers such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. He wrote four novels under the pseudonym Francis Iles of which Malice Aforethought was the most famous.

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