Before the Fact

Before the Fact

First edition
Author	Anthony Berkeley writing as Francis Iles
Country	England
Language	English
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Gollancz
Publication date	1932
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by	Malice Aforethought

Before the Fact (1932) is a novel by Anthony Berkeley Cox writing under the pen name "Francis Iles".

Iles' novel is experimental in that it is not a whodunit: It does not take long to determine the identity of the villain and his motives. According to Colin Dexter, Before the Fact is a "crime novel" rather than a "detective novel", with Iles being "the father of the psychological suspense novel as we know it today" for his authorship of Malice Aforethought (1931) and Before the Fact (1932). It is true that the police do not play any role in the book; none of the characters are ever charged with a crime, let alone indicted for or convicted of one. Dark and suspenseful, Berkeley's thriller was adapted into the classic film Suspicion, directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Before the Fact is the story of Lina, a "born victim". She is raised in the country in the early decades of the 20th century and, at 28, she is still a virgin and in danger of becoming an old spinster. She finds country life with her parents rather boring, and only lives for strangers who might be passing through or who have been invited by someone living in or near their village. When the novel opens, such a stranger has just arrived: 27-year-old Johnnie Aysgarth, from an impoverished family who are, as she is told, "of rotten stock". General McLaidlaw, Lina's father, is opposed to the marriage, and everyone seems to know that all that Johnnie is after is Lina's money. Lina herself has been told from an early age that Joyce, her younger sister, got the looks and she (Lina) got the brains.

In spite of these difficulties, Lina and Johnnie get married after only a short engagement. They go to Paris on their honeymoon, where they stay at the best hotels and dine at the best restaurants, and, on their return, move into an eight-bedroom house in Dorset. Soon Johnnie, who is jobless, admits to his wife that they have been living on borrowed money and that it has run out. Gradually, unwillingly, Lina takes charge of the couple's finances and suggests that Johnnie get a regular job. For the time being, they rely entirely on Lina's allowance. Reluctantly, Johnnie takes a job as the steward of a large estate of a Captain Melbeck. Lina always wanted to have children, but, as it turns out, she never gets pregnant.