Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles ****

Reading dates: 29 July – 09 August 2024

Malice Aforethought is a wicket little thriller which I bought simply because it is part of a collection of books I quite like as objects. I had never heard of Francis Iles, but the description intrigued me. Here was a  crime novel where we know, from page 1 who the criminal is. The narrator reminded me of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley (whom I love so much) and of Nabokov’s Hermann Karlovich in his delusion. Like all my favourite books, it finished with a court case.

Why then not 5 stars? the main character is despicable (and I am more a reader of charming novels) and the author did not give too much characterisation to his women, even he has a good chance with such differing personalities as the stern Julia, the hysteric Madeleine and the childlike Ivy. A missed opportunity. My favourite sections were the parties, which reminded me of the soirées in War and Peace. I can imagine them so cinematographically like a Woody Allen fragmented conversation! I perhaps need to check up the TV adaptations of Malice Aforethought to see if they are any good.