And Death Came Too

'No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant' ~Sunday Express Beautiful, amoral and ruthless - but was she a killer? Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club Ruth Garside was framed for three killings. But was she really guilty? 1948: Young Ruth Garside is tried for the attempted murder of her father; she is acquitted, ‘Not Proven’. 1953: Ruth Appleyard’s husband is killed in a car crash in Italy, the afternoon she learnt he was having an affair. After her husband’s death, Ruth becomes companion to domineering old Lady Dingle, who leaves her a fortune in her will. And when Lady Dingle also dies in suspicious circumstances, Ruth is accused of murder once more. This time, however, she has Arthur Crook on her side. 'I can't prove her innocence,' cried Thomas Fogg KC. 'I can't prove my own innocence,' said Ruth. 'She's my client so she can't be guilty, and by heck, I'll prove it if it means the skies falling,' declared Arthur Crook. Well - does he? And­ is he justified? This is one of Gilbert’s most satisfyingly traditional detective stories: a family murder mystery in the Agatha Christie style, with a houseful of needy, greedy relations gathered for Christmas, an adventuress with a shady past, and a missing will. Characterization and dialogue excellent, particularly the disagreeable Dorothy. Crook does a fast, efficient job of sorting through alibis and conflicting testimony to find the culprit. No great ingenuity – the crime is unpremeditated – but the revelation is dramatic; desperate love and obsession lead to murder.