Lina has never been one to catch the eye of men. She is, by her own admission, rather plain and disinterested. Her sister is happily married to vibrant author, who she loves to visit and discuss the psychology employed in his murder mysteries. But Lina returns to her home with her patient parents. She had resigned herself to the life of an old maid until she is charmed by a suave and handsome Johnnie Aysgarth.
The two have a whirlwind romance and marry soon after. Lina can hardly believe the erudite Johnny is interested in a plain girl like her. He insists he adores her lack of refined airs that make all the other women the same. But Johnnie’s happy-go-lucky veneer is hiding some dark elements. He is a gambler–who loses more often than he wins. When valuable household items go missing, Lina slowly realizes Johnnie is selling things to cover debts. Worse, she begins to question his loyalty and whether he only married her for her family money.
Not until she had been back at home for over three months did Lina discover that Johnnie was a murdered.
They had been three very excellent months.
Johnnie had been charming to her, completely devoted. Lina, very suspicious at first and fighting instinctively against his charm, had become convinced: Johnnie did love her. He could not possibly have pretended like that. ~Pg. 215
Johnnie’s deceptions deepen–more trips to the racetrack after promises not to, pretending to go to work, and possibly some philandering. Lina struggles with her desire to be a happily married wife (to a charming, handsome man) despite his unsavory behavior. Every time she resolves herself to leave him or cut off his allowance, he somehow convinces her to do otherwise.
The novel is written from Lina’s point-of-view–not in the first person but all the action takes place in her presence and the thoughts are hers. Her suspicions of Johnnie build until she becomes convinced he murdered a business partner and is going to murder her next. Her inability to stick to any game plan, especially once she truly does believe that Johnnie has been lying to her about a number of things, can be a bit frustrating. In the introduction, editor Martin Edwards warns the reader of this: “Before the Fact is not without its flaws, especially in its portrayal of female characters and behavior… Iles later admitted that he hadn’t quite captured Lina’s personality in the way that he’d hoped…”.
Yet, as frustrating as Lina can be, she is not implausible. She is trusting to a fault, but she is not helpless. She has multiple ways out if she wants them. In this way, the novel is much more of a domestic suspense than a crime or murder mystery. It builds a slow tension that will snap by the end — one way or another.
And though it predates its publishing by 7 years, I couldn’t help but notice the many literary similarities to du Maurier’s Rebecca, not least because of Joan Fontaine’s portrayal of the female lead under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch adapted Before The Fact into the film Suspicion (1941) with Fontaine and Cary Grant as the wayward Johnnie. It was a brilliant piece of casting. Who could stay mad at a charmer like Grant? He couldn’t really be plotting to kill his beautiful wife. The film earned Hitch an Oscar nomination and it won Fontaine the award for Best Actress. It is striking to see the similarities and differences in the adaptation. It’s clear which elements of the novel attracted Hitch to bring it to film. Of course the Hays Code limited what could be included in the screenplay, meaning there are significant plot differences in the two.
Before the Fact is a compulsively readable and I’m not ashamed to say I finished it in the wee hours of the morning, anxious to learn the ending. Anthony Berkeley Cox founded the famed Detection Club and I’m glad to have the chance to read one of the masterpieces of the important literary figure.
My thanks to Hartley at Sourcebooks for the review copy.
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication date: July 15, 2025
Print length: 364 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1464237611