The Beast Must Die - Nicholas Blake

[Susan]

This is the fourth in the Nigel Strangeways crime series, written by Nicholas Blake (pseudonym of poet Cecil Day-Lewis) and was first published in 1938. It was adapted into an Argentinian film in 1952, and a French/Italian film, "The Man Must Die," in 1969.

Respected crime writer Frank Cairns plots the perfect murder - a murder that he himself will commit.

Cairns intends to murder the hit-and-run driver who killed his young son, but when his intended victim is found dead and Cairns becomes the prime suspect, the author insists that he has been framed. An old friend of Cairns calls in private detective Nigel Strangeways, who must unravel a fiendishly plotted mystery if he is to discover what really happened to George Rattery.

The Beast Must Die is one of Nicholas Blake's most acclaimed novels and was picked by the Observer as one of the 1,000 novels everyone must read.

Please refrain from posting spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

[Judy]

I will be chasing this one up at the library today, as it has been "in transit" to me for rather a long time! Looking forward to reading it when it finally arrives as I've heard it is brilliant.

[Susan]

I will say that Nigel does not enter the story until quite late - in other words, if anyone is unsure about reading this as they haven't read any of the earlier books in the series, it doesn't really matter.

Incidentally, I was just reading The Trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Cecil Day Lewis gave evidence at the trial. I didn't recall that before.

[Susan]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...

I came across this article about Cecil Day Lewis as a crime writer, which might be of interest.

[Sandy]

Very interesting article Susan. I have read the first third, the diary entries, and found the concept of the author assuming his literary identity interesting, as is using the murderer's diary. Enjoying the book.

[Susan]

Good to hear, Sandy.

It comes up quite often in lists of top books - including this list of classics of crime fiction:

https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/top-1...

I think it is also in the top 1000 list of books you should read before you die...

[Judy]

I think the copy coming to me from the library might have got lost. I've downloaded the Kindle sample from Amazon, and if the library copy doesn't emerge in the next day or two, I will download the whole book.

[Susan]

That's a shame, Judy.

[Judy]

I should now hopefully get my hands on this one today :)

[Pamela]

Having read Susan's comment that it doesn't matter if you haven't read other books in the series, I have ordered a second hand paperback copy. Hopefully it won't take long to arrive.

[Susan]

That's good to hear Pamela and Judy. Let me know when you both get the book. I am keen to continue this series now, as I am enjoying it a lot and have never quite read all the books. I think I stalled somewhere in the middle, so will try to keep going, now I have started reading them again :)

[ShanDizzy]

I bought this in ebook format on February 14th and started reading it on February 21st. I have tried to keep quiet about it until the group started reading it. It was so good!

[Judy]

I have started reading the Amazon sample now (haven't had a chance to get to the library!), and am interested to see that the narrator is a crime author using a pseudonym, just like Cecil Day-Lewis aka Nicholas Blake.

It's extremely well-written, like the other books by him that I've read so far, and so far is quite a departure from the earlier Nigel Strangeways books - much darker.

[Susan]

It does feel like the author made a big jump with this one, doesn't it? Almost as though - dare I say - Cecil Day-Lewis was taking his crime writing more seriously?

[ShanDizzy]

Judy wrote: "I have started reading the Amazon sample now (haven't had a chance to get to the library!), and am interested to see that the narrator is a crime author using a pseudonym, just like Cecil Day-Lewis..."

I agree Judy that this 4th in the series was darker than the previous ones. Too, Susan, the writing was better, as if, like you mentioned, Day-Lewis took his time with this one.

[Sandy]

Remembering the article posted earlier in this thread, perhaps his cottage needed more work? This plot must have required serious thought.

[Susan]

Sandy wrote: "Remembering the article posted earlier in this thread, perhaps his cottage needed more work? This plot must have required serious thought."

Good point, Sandy. I am currently reading a biography of Virginia Woolf and she was delighted when she finally started to make money from her writing (for all you aspiring authors out there, she was publishing for more than five years before actually making good money) and immediately planned building works, so perhaps we need to give property its rightful place in literature :)

[Judy]

I'm now properly under way with this one and enjoying it - Blake's style is fantastic. I think you can see his poet's sensibility at work here, for instance in this bit from June 27:

"The whole countryside is his memorial. As long as I stay on here, the wound will remain unhealed - which is what I want."

[Abigail]

I started it today and am enjoying it; good twist in the boat! Though I have to say I've been gorging on Louise Penny lately and nobody quite stacks up.

[Judy]

The feel of this is reminding me of Blake's stand-alone crime novel, A Penknife in My Heart, which I thought was excellent - another one which starts out with murder being planned. So far, this really feels more like a standalone than a series novel.

[Judy]

The story is really reminding me of something else I've read, but I'm not sure what! I suppose there are quite a few books which have some plot similarities with this one.

I will try to rush through now so I can get over to the spoiler thread and say more. :)

[Judy]

Surprised to see 'Sardines' described as an 'erotic' game - I remember it as a children's party game! I certainly haven't ever played it as an adult.

[Susan]

I haven't read that one, Judy. I will have a look, thanks.

[Judy]

I think you would enjoy it, Susan.

I'm now up to the part where Nigel comes into the story and it feels almost like a different book - very different from the diary part.

[Abigail]

I do wish GA authors hadn’t decided that it was cute to tease the reader. Passages like “Had he gone to investigate that movement, it is just possible that the course of several people’s lives might have been profoundly altered. But he did not” just annoy me.

Still, it’s an interesting approach, using the supposed diary of a prospective murderer so set the scene. Some contradictions in the diary make me question its reliability, though.

[Susan]

The diary was an interesting plot device, wasn't it? It enabled Day-Lewis to write something different from his previous books. I did wonder whether he really wanted the diary discovered though?