Portrait of a Murderer: A Christmas Crime Story

“Adrian Gray was born in May 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931.” So opens this exceptional entry in the British Library Crime Classics series from Meredith (1899–1973), an undeservedly obscure author better known for the books she wrote as Anthony Gilbert. Since the fatal bludgeoning in the victim’s home in King’s Poplars was both “instantaneous and unpremeditated,” the usual suspicions of financial and other obvious motives on the part of Gray’s six children—Richard, Amy, Olivia, Isobel, Brand, and Ruth—and their families may not be relevant. Psychological depth enables Meredith to maintain engagement even after the killer’s identity is disclosed, and she effectively shifts points of view, incorporating that of the murderer in the crime’s aftermath and that of a character who may hold the key to achieving justice. Simple prose conveys personality in just a few words (“He was a bachelor, cared for by a housekeeper whom he did not recognize when they met in the streets”). Golden age fans will be enthralled. [em](Apr.) [/em]