Described on its first publication in 1932 as "one of the finest studies of murder ever written", Before the Fact is an experimental classic of crime fiction that was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's film Suspicion.
"Some women give birth to murderers, some go to bed with them, and some marry them. Lina Aysgarth had lived with her husband for nearly eight years before she realized that she was married to a murderer."
When wealthy but lonely Lina meets handsome, charismatic Johnnie Aysgarth, she is immediately swept off her feet. The couple become engage and soon they are married, despite the reservations of Lina’s father. Although there are one or two early warning signs about Johnnie’s character, he is attentive and affectionate, and Lina adores him. Even when she catches him out in a lie or a bit of sharp practice, he is soon able to charm his way back into favor. As time passes, however, it begins to dawn on Lina that he is capable not just of petty acts of dishonesty but of much more serious crime
