Malice Aforethought.

FRANCIS ILES

Publication: Mundanus, Ltd/ Victor Gollancz Publisher, 1931, London

First edition. Pseudonym of Anthony Berkeley Cox, who also wrote as Anthony Berkeley. Original published yellow wrappers. Very good copy housed in a cloth clamshell case with titles stamped in gold gilt on a leather label affixed to the spine. With this book, considered to be his masterpiece, it is clear from the first page that Dr. Edmund Bickleigh intends to murder his wife. He is a long-suffering husband whose snobbish wife, Julia, has tormented him for years, while he has indulged in fantasies about and even flirtations with other women. Bickleigh is smitten by one, the beautiful heiress Madeleine Cranmere, and begins an affair with her. Though Bickleigh has hopes of obtaining a divorce from his shrewish wife, Madeleine says she could never marry a divorced man. In Bickleigh's twisted mind, that leaves him with only one possible course of action, if he still wants Madeleine: He must murder his wife to avoid a divorce. This book created a sensation when it revolutionized the mystery genre by revealing the identity of the killer from the start, then generating suspense by making readers wonder if he could get away with his clever crime.

Inventory Number: 38911