Before the Fact

Über

Before the Fact is a novel by Anthony Berkeley writing under the pen name "Francis Iles".
Iles' novel is experimental in that it is not a whodunit: It does not take long to determine the identity of the villain and his motives. According to Colin Dexter, Before the Fact is a "crime novel" rather than a "detective novel", with Iles being "the father of the psychological suspense novel as we know it today" for his authorship of Malice Aforethought and Before the Fact. It is true that the police do not play any role in the book; none of the characters are ever charged with a crime, let alone indicted for or convicted of one. Dark and suspenseful, Berkeley's thriller was adapted into the classic film Suspicion, directed by Alfred Hitchcock