“Before the Poison” by Peter Robinson

 

368 pages, William Morrow, ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0062004796

If it hadn’t been for the Mysteries & Munchies book club at the Fraser Public Library, I doubt very much that I would have even looked twice at Peter Robinson’s Before the Poison, which just proves that I have to expand my literary horizons, for this work, while moseying around at its own pace toward its (not too-terribly shocking) conclusion, was a good read that kept me interested until the moment I closed the cover for the last time. In this, his 31^st novel (if I counted right), we find movie composer Chris Lowndes returning to his native Yorkshire after the death of his wife Laura; upon taking possession of the isolated Kilnsgate House, he finds himself fascinated – if not obsessed – with the previous owner, Grace Fox, who was executed in 1953 for poisoning her husband…or did she? As Lowndes discovers more about the enigmatic Grace, he finds it impossible to believe that this Queen Alexandra’s nurse and recipient of the Royal Red Cross medal murdered her husband, and sets out to discover the truth behind this long-dormant mystery.

As I said earlier, Robinson’s tale moves along at its own, meandering pace, but for all that I never once felt bored or impatient with his tale; perhaps it was because Robinson alternated his story of the present-day – circa 2010-11 – with a contemporary account of Grace’s trial through the first half and with excepts of Grace’s wartime journals through the second. Broke up the story, a bit. But without spoiling the plot, I have to say I found the ending to be…unsatisfying. I don’t necessarily need an M. Night Shyamalan twist at the end of my mysteries, but I do like my mysteries to be…mysterious. And Before the Poison didn’t really feel that way. It just seemed like the tale of a grieving man and his inner-search for meaning, of guilt – both personal and collective – sacrifice and redemption, all of which made for a good story. But not a thriller, or a suspenseful tale. And as for the “twist” at the end…eh, it seemed more tacked-on than the logical conclusion to a mystery – a rather unsatisfying mystery, at that.

So for all that, I found Before the Poison to be a rather interesting if unsatisfying read, and just wish that any future mysteries I read will have more mystery to them.