I went to Barter Books yesterday and came home with several crime fiction books, plus a book on painting with pastels and a book on Northumberland’s coastal castles.
The book I’m writing about today is one of the crime fiction books, that I was quite excited to find, because I’ve never read anything by Francis Iles, the pseudonym of Anthony Berkeley Cox (1893-1970), a journalist and mystery writer from the Golden Age of crime fiction.
The book is his second novel written as Francis Iles, Before the Fact and it is a psychological study of a potential murderer as seen through the eyes of his intended victim. It begins:
Some women give birth to murderers, some go to bed with them, and some marry them. Lina Aygarth had lived with her husband for nearly eight years before she realized that she was married to a murderer.
I’m eager to read on …
For more Book Beginnings on Friday see Gilion’s blog Rose City Reader.
BooksPlease 
Oh wow, this sounds amazing!! I can definitely see how this would be part of the Golden Age of crime fiction! I might put this one on my TBR list because it has such an interesting perspective on crime! Thanks for hosting.
My Friday post
Juli @ Universe in Words
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Oh, this does look like a good book! Thanks for sharing…and here’s MY FRIDAY MEMES POST
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Wow, love that opening! If the rest of the book is as interesting as the first lines, that should be a good one.
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Wow, that would be a frightening discovery. I recall there was a man who had a normal family and life except on the side he was a serial killer. His wife didn’t even know and they were married for much longer than 8 years, I think. This sounds like a good read.
Here’s my Book Beginning.
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Great beginning! I want to know how she discovered her husband was a murderer and what she did when she found out.
My Book Beginning is from Memories.
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Sounds very creepy!
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That is a great, great beginning! I have seen a couple of his books recently, but knew nothing about them. Now I am intrigued.
Thanks for participating in BBOF!
(There is a typo in your date — he must have died in 1970. I wasn’t going to mention it, but sometimes I find typos in my posts and I wonder why no one told me!)
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I’ve corrected the date – thanks for letting me know :)
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That does sound like a really good one. You got a great haul from Barter Books this time. The castles one sounds interesting, I suppose they’ll mainly be ‘smashed’!
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Oh, yes, Katrina some of the castles are most definitely ‘smashed’, some like Bamburgh have been rebuilt. They’re all dramatic.
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Margaret – Oh, now that is an intriguing beginning! And it fits perfectly with the psychological theme of the book. Thanks for sharing.
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I’m eager to read on too! New author for me, have added to my look for list!
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