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Portrait of a Murderer: A Christmas Crime Story

Anne Meredith,

Martin Edwards (Introduction)

Start date: December 1, 2020

Finish date: December 31, 2020

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our December group read.
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What Members Thought

Nov 26, 2020 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is not a traditional mystery, as the reader is aware of who the murderer is from the beginning of events. It is set over Christmas, 1931, when a house party of disgruntled family members converge on the family home of Adrian Gray. It is soon apparent that this is not to be a Christmas full of merriment and cheer, but of unhappy marriages, thwarted ambitions, financial issues and long held grudges. Indeed, before long, Adrian Gray is murdered by one of his children and the person responsible ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2020 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction-uk, crime-fiction, british-library-crime-classics, 1930s, 2020

full post here: http://www.crimesegments.com/2020/12/...

Warning: cute and cozy this book is definitely not. While it begins at a family gathering at Christmas, nobody's going a-wassailing, nor is there even the slightest hint of sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting tingling too -- this is the story of an unpremeditated but cold-blooded murder, the person responsible, and the aftermath.

The usual Christmas tradition at the Gray house is for the Gray children to come to the family home. Out of six, th full post here: http://www.crimesegments.com/2020/12/...

Warning: cute and cozy this book is definitely not. While it begins at a family gathering at Christmas, nobody's going a-wassailing, nor is there even the slightest hint of sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting tingling too -- this is the story of an unpremeditated but cold-blooded murder, the person responsible, and the aftermath.

The usual Christmas tradition at the Gray house is for the Gray children to come to the family home. Out of six, there are two already living at Kings Poplars; the remaining four had long ago left to make their way in the world. Yuletide is not necessarily a happy time for this family, because, as we are told early on, patriarch Adrian Gray is, "on good terms with none of his children." We learn why this is over the first forty-something pages, and we also learn why it is that, as the back-cover blurb notes,

"None of Gray's six surviving children is fond of him; several have cause to wish him dead."

Christmas morning rolls around, and Adrian has failed to join the family for breakfast or for the usual Christmas task of reading the lessons. When he is found dead in his library, it was thought at first he'd suffered a stroke but when the police arrive, it doesn't take long to figure out that Adrian's demise was anything but natural. The killer, however, is ready for them, having arranged things so that the accusing finger points elsewhere. I won't reveal any details, but this setup makes for very tense reading right up to the end as an innocent person is arrested, tried, and sentenced. Will justice be served or will a murderer remain free to walk the streets?

Although the forty-plus pages in part one are mettle-testing to even the most patient of readers, do not give up -- the information gleaned from there will serve you greatly in the long run. This is the sort of crime novel I love reading, answering the question of why rather than focusing on the who. As Carolyn Wells is quoted as saying in the introduction, it is indeed a most "Human Document."

I couldn't put it down once I'd started. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2020 Susan in NC rated it did not like it · review of another edition

DNF - really not my kind of book, good writing for bits, but verbose and confusing in parts. Failed to hold my interest once Adrian Grey is murdered and his body is discovered. Family full of miserable marriages, greedy, grasping snobs, shallow, nasty people - and one murderer. We know early on who did it, so I read the epilogue and decided it wasn’t worth any more of my reading time. Too many books...

11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2018 Anissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, mystery-suspense-crime, british-fiction-uk-ireland, british-library-crime-classics, christmas-and-winter-mysteries

When the patriarch of a family is found to be dead on Christmas morning and not one of his six children nor their accompanying spouses can be bothered to even give the pretence of mourning him, you know it's going to be a ripping read. Adrian Gray is that patriarch and even more unfortunate than not being mourned by his brood, one of them has murdered him.

This story takes through not just on the who but along the winding road of why and the coverup and framing of another. Go all in on dastardly ...more

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Dec 03, 2020 Jill rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is definitely a crime story, but not really a mystery, as the reader is told all about the the murder and murderer a short way into the book. As the blurb says, a family has gathered together to celebrate Christmas, but each member of this family has taken the opportunity to try to get money from the family's head, their father. This family consists of the most unlikable people, and although the murderer tries to cover themselves by inventing false information and destroying evidence, he do ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 12, 2020 Roger Pettit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

While I applaud the initiative of ‘British Library Crime Classics’ in resuscitating long-forgotten detective stories and other crime fiction published primarily from the 1930s onwards, I have found a fair few of their publications to be pedestrian and unmemorable. It’s not too difficult to understand why they fell into neglect. Indeed, many of them serve only to underline how much more skilled the sometimes pompously underrated but still very popular Agatha Christie was at creating entertaining ...more

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Dec 04, 2018 Carol Evans rated it really liked it · review of another edition

We know from the first sentence that one of his Gray's six children killed him. Not too much later, we learn which one the killer was. The rest of the book deals with whether or not s/he will be caught. And it's a study of the characters. Meredith explores the mind of the murderer, the motives, the way of seeing the world that is so off-balance but logical in its own way. She explores the other characters too. I would say the innocent characters, but none of them is innocent. They may have not k ...more

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Apr 16, 2018 Annarella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A wonderful mystery, a psychological masterpiece of the Golden Age.
It's well written, with very interesting characters and a great plot.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley ...more

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