Malice Aforethought by Anthony Berkeley Cox writing under the name Francis Iles - 10 out of 10

 Malice Aforethought by Anthony Berkeley Cox writing under the name Francis Iles

10 out of 10

 

 

Malice Aforethought is a sublime, perfect novel, which happens to be listed on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list in the Crime section, albeit it is so sophisticated, erudite, splendidly written and hilarious as to be just as well a Dark Comedy masterpiece – indeed, when reading the last couple of pages, yours truly has started laughing, because when at the end we find out that…but wait, we cannot mention what happens on the finish line, especially when talking about a mystery story…

 

Nevertheless, we find from the first few pages that the antihero – should I say that, considering that the fellow is quite likeable and his idea of murdering his wife is quite interesting…oops, should have made such a statement with Malice Aforethought – has decided at some point to do away with his spouse…Julia Bickleigh is a very domineering, quite sadistic woman, humiliating her husband in front of the crème de la crème of the small village in which they reside, imposing on him strict rules, while ignoring his affairs, until he has a crush on a new arrival in the community, the very rich and exotic Madeleine Cranmere.

Reading the saga of the short, quite anxious doctor Edmund Bickleigh, this reader has found that he was thinking of similarities – and no, he does not want to follow this model, in spite of the aforementioned vicious joke – with the main character, in that he has had in his past a short relationship – well, if about ten months that seem like ages and perhaps the only age that counts in the end can be called a short period – with the Queen of Beauty in his land and that has been both a manna from heaven for his self-esteem and a crushing blow, resulting in a severe sense of inferiority once he was abandoned by the said royalty…

 

The doctor has always had an inferiority complex, due in large part, if not almost completely, to his stature, even if at about 168 centimeters he does not strike the under signed as a… what should we use here, midget seems inappropriate, medieval and vertically challenged appears politically correct but pompous and stupid…and he appears to be involved in at least one of the Games People Play mentioned in his classic by Eric Berne http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-people-play-by-eric-berne.html probably the IIWFY variety...

Living under the yoke of his dictatorial spouse, the short Edmund Bickleigh is still quite charming, liked by the villagers and quite a hit with the young women, having been involved in intimacies with partners that the wife had thought unremarkable enough to ignore – anyway, the two have separate rooms, sleep apart and Julia has married only to escape a worse fate, the alternative being to live as a spinster in the home of her almost penniless father.

 

At the time when we meet the figures of the narrative, the antihero has difficulties in keeping his present lover, Ivy Ridgeway, at a distance, while he concentrates his efforts on seducing Gwynfryd Rattery, the belle that he takes to a shed during the tennis party he has organized with his wife – the latter making him do all the choirs, as the servant she feels he is in some ways – to try and kiss and start a new extramarital adventure with…

 

When Madeleine Cranmere buys an important, grand estate in the village, she becomes the talk of the party, for she decides to live alone and that is not proper for this conservative place, where any insignificant incident is instantly known to everybody, and her closeness to the doctor and one of the rich young men of the neighborhood, Denny Bourne, would offer much fodder for the gossipy, bored men and women of the countryside.

If at first the doctor had been unimpressed with the newcomer, after they had talked and found that they have identical thoughts, likes and inclinations, with a shared interest in painting, sketching being one of the hobbies of Edmund Bickleigh, it seems that between the two people a flame is burning, love is blooming  in spite of the fact that they have different backgrounds, the doctor is married and to a very imposing, tough consort at that and there is an important difference in age and the spouse would be a major issue.

 

Stopping midrace, it is exalting to read this divine story, with such a sensational, unexpected, sardonic ending, especially after being blessed with finishing  two other chefs d'oeuvre, The Uncommon Reader http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-uncommon-reader-by-alan-bennett-11.html and the equally resplendent Less Than Angels http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/10/less-than-angels-by-barbara-pym-10-out.html by glorious Barbara Pym...the anxiety revolves now around the probability theory…what are the chances that the next opus will be if not equally blissful, at least close

Infatuated with Madeleine Cranmere, Edmund Bickleigh has very little patience with Ivy and he is violent with her, knocking the poor soul and showing the true colors of the would be wife killer…Julia accepts the idea of letting the love birds explore their feelings for one year, and if at the end of the grace period they still feel the same, she would grant a divorce, thinking it fair to admit that she has no emotion for the man she had married and does not see a reason to block his freedom, only she would change her mind after trying to talk with Madeleine, having to press for a conversation and finally, once they would have conversed, Mrs. Bickleigh discovers that ‘rival’ is an egotistic, unbalanced actress.

 

This is one puzzle that this reader has not solved, since he is tempted to agree with the late Julia on the one hand, considering the young future Mrs. Bourne quite preposterous and pathetic at times, while on the other, we could accept her claim that young as she is, the doctor took advantage of his experience and skill in seducing his targets and with continuous assaults, tenacity, volition, fervent expressions of admiration and eternal devotion and managed to control Madeleine Cranmere, who is nevertheless one of the many complex personages of a stupendous narrative, a woman that could well be responsible for the death of her husband…doctor Bickleigh, villainous as he is, had warned her that the sanitation – or better said lack thereof – in the mansion she had bought would be the cause of serious trouble unless she takes care of it and has proper plumbing installed, something she delayed and ignored, probably provoking the typhoid fever that would prove so deadly…