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ngreader's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the mystery. Loved the different twists and turns
Did NOT like the weird romance going on throughout the book as it just detracted from the story as a whole (hence 3 stars instead of 4)
Did NOT like the weird romance going on throughout the book as it just detracted from the story as a whole (hence 3 stars instead of 4)
dhar7's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book a great deal. The story was slow and meandering. But that’s ok, I was happy to take a slow drive through this story. The twists at the end unfolded quickly and I was glad the author didn’t sprinkle in some super natural drivel, but instead, stayed grounded in reality. As such, the story hit its mark and felt......compelling and real.
marlynb's review against another edition
4.0
Chris Lowndes is a successful film score composer, well-known in the business and financially very comfortable. Having promised himself he'd return home at the age of sixty, he buys an isolated country house near the Yorkshire town where he grew up. He hadn't expected to be doing it without his wife at his side, but she'd died a few months earlier. He goes anyway, telling himself he needs solitude to work on the piano sonata he's always wanted to compose.
Having completed the purchase well before he returns to England, Lowndes is unsure what to expect when he arrives at the house late one October afternoon. He certainly doesn't expect to learn that the wife of the original owner, a physician named Ernest Fox, had been convicted of murdering him.
Out of curiosity, Lowndes begins to research the history of the house and it's early inhabitants. The more he learns about Grace Fox and her family, the more he becomes convinced that she was not guilty of the crime. Although he knows better than to tell anyone, he thinks he catches glimpses of her around the house. People begin to accuse him of being obsessed with Grace and her story, and it certainly appears that way, though Chris believes that all he's trying to do is uncover the truth.
Throughout Lowndes' search, the reader has the uncomfortable feeling that there is some underlying reason for his investigation. It's not expressed outright, but extremely subtle hints that this is the case permeate the narrative, very much in the vein of Rebecca,
In fact, as in Du Maurier's novel, although the narrative is in the first person from the protagonist's point of view, the central character of the story is a ghost whose history somehow becomes intertwined with that of the narrator.
As a devotee of Robinson's Inspector Banks, I was at first disappointed that Before the Poison was not part of that series. But this is such a well-written and well-told tale that the sadness was short-lived.
Having completed the purchase well before he returns to England, Lowndes is unsure what to expect when he arrives at the house late one October afternoon. He certainly doesn't expect to learn that the wife of the original owner, a physician named Ernest Fox, had been convicted of murdering him.
Out of curiosity, Lowndes begins to research the history of the house and it's early inhabitants. The more he learns about Grace Fox and her family, the more he becomes convinced that she was not guilty of the crime. Although he knows better than to tell anyone, he thinks he catches glimpses of her around the house. People begin to accuse him of being obsessed with Grace and her story, and it certainly appears that way, though Chris believes that all he's trying to do is uncover the truth.
Throughout Lowndes' search, the reader has the uncomfortable feeling that there is some underlying reason for his investigation. It's not expressed outright, but extremely subtle hints that this is the case permeate the narrative, very much in the vein of Rebecca,
In fact, as in Du Maurier's novel, although the narrative is in the first person from the protagonist's point of view, the central character of the story is a ghost whose history somehow becomes intertwined with that of the narrator.
As a devotee of Robinson's Inspector Banks, I was at first disappointed that Before the Poison was not part of that series. But this is such a well-written and well-told tale that the sadness was short-lived.
wendyh65's review against another edition
5.0
Chris Lowndes is an accomplished composer of film scores. He has come home from Hollywood, to England, to a remote house in the Yorkshire Dales that he bought sight unseen. It's what he has wanted for a long time, but he didn't imagine that it would only happen after his beloved wife had died and he was alone.
But is he so alone? The house has a history, of a man dying from being poisoned by his wife sixty years ago, and he's pulled into the story as he tries to make sense of what he's discovered, and told by the locals.
This was an exciting, engaging read, and I want to read more by this author.
But is he so alone? The house has a history, of a man dying from being poisoned by his wife sixty years ago, and he's pulled into the story as he tries to make sense of what he's discovered, and told by the locals.
This was an exciting, engaging read, and I want to read more by this author.
margaret21's review against another edition
3.0
A clever story from Peter Robinson, a stand-alone that's not part of the Inspector Banks series.
Following his wife's painful death, composer Chris Lowndes returns from America to his native Yorkshire, buying, unseen, a rather remote house near Richmond. It turns out to have been the home of Grace Fox, hanged in the 1950s for murdering her husband.
The plot unfolds by the device of interspersing first of all a contemporary description of the trial, and later, Grace's own war time diaries (she was a nurse) with Chris's own tale: he becomes almost obsessive in wishing to discover te 'truth' about Grace's story.
As an investigation into this long-put-to-bed murder, it's involving and interesting. Chris's own developing love affair with Heather, and his detailed summaries of the music he's playing and the wine he's drinking are less so. He seems to have the leisure and the means to follow his whims at a moment's notice, and doesn't come over as a sympathetic person. But it's a good yarn, and one from which I learnt quite a lot about the role of nurses in the Far East during WWII.
A good page-turner.
Following his wife's painful death, composer Chris Lowndes returns from America to his native Yorkshire, buying, unseen, a rather remote house near Richmond. It turns out to have been the home of Grace Fox, hanged in the 1950s for murdering her husband.
The plot unfolds by the device of interspersing first of all a contemporary description of the trial, and later, Grace's own war time diaries (she was a nurse) with Chris's own tale: he becomes almost obsessive in wishing to discover te 'truth' about Grace's story.
As an investigation into this long-put-to-bed murder, it's involving and interesting. Chris's own developing love affair with Heather, and his detailed summaries of the music he's playing and the wine he's drinking are less so. He seems to have the leisure and the means to follow his whims at a moment's notice, and doesn't come over as a sympathetic person. But it's a good yarn, and one from which I learnt quite a lot about the role of nurses in the Far East during WWII.
A good page-turner.
tcameron's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this one more. The portions involving Grace's trial and her journal were the best parts of the book. Unfortunately it was weighed down by our narrator, whose character was pretty forgettable and whose motives for investigating Grace's history were lackluster at best.
mimika9's review against another edition
4.0
I love Peter Robinson's books, not least for his references to music.
wickham's review against another edition
2.0
Before the Poison is a very procedural murder mystery, with the Nancy Drew style interweaving of multiple seemingly unrelated plots creating a cosy atmosphere fit for a night in. Add to that a historical fiction slant focusing on Britain during the 1940s and 1950s and a dash of interpersonal drama and theoretically you've got a recipe for success.
However, I think Robinson must've misread that recipe somehow, because this book is far from the treat it could be. Firstly, the persistent male gaze bothered me immensely. Women were always described in reference to their attractiveness while men were allowed to be defined by their character rather than their looks. The main character had sex on the brain constantly, and seemed to live in an alternate version of Britain where that was simply the norm.
Secondly, Robinson is mostly known for his Inspector Banks series, which I've heard is quite good. But I also think that series has bled a bit into this book, because with no explanation and little genuine motive the protagonist finds himself morphing from a film score composer into a full blown detective, complete with experience interrogating witnesses, halfway through the book. This transition isn't based on any particular logic but instead seems completely contrived.
Thirdly, there is a prominent implication that the protagonist can see ghosts. Nothing is done about this. It was intensely concerning to me.
The potential for a truly excellent book is here, with well constructed twists and complex webs of intrigue. Unfortunately that potential is buried beneath the gratuitous heft of largely uninteresting detail and the aforementioned glaring issues.
However, I think Robinson must've misread that recipe somehow, because this book is far from the treat it could be. Firstly, the persistent male gaze bothered me immensely. Women were always described in reference to their attractiveness while men were allowed to be defined by their character rather than their looks. The main character had sex on the brain constantly, and seemed to live in an alternate version of Britain where that was simply the norm.
Secondly, Robinson is mostly known for his Inspector Banks series, which I've heard is quite good. But I also think that series has bled a bit into this book, because with no explanation and little genuine motive the protagonist finds himself morphing from a film score composer into a full blown detective, complete with experience interrogating witnesses, halfway through the book. This transition isn't based on any particular logic but instead seems completely contrived.
Thirdly, there is a prominent implication that the protagonist can see ghosts. Nothing is done about this. It was intensely concerning to me.
The potential for a truly excellent book is here, with well constructed twists and complex webs of intrigue. Unfortunately that potential is buried beneath the gratuitous heft of largely uninteresting detail and the aforementioned glaring issues.
megsherer's review against another edition
Holy moly, I got exactly halfway through this book before realizing "WOAH, I am so bored with this 60 year old composer's obsession with this maybe-but-probably-not poisoner". Then I got really offended by the cover's claim that Robinson "out-does De Maurier" (as in "Rebecca") and then decided to pass it along to Goodwill.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Received for Review
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 3.75
First thought when Finished: That last half of this book was really well done and kept me riveted!
What I Loved: I can't really go into detail about what I loved about Before the Poison or the review would be full of spoilers. I will say there is a distinct point in the middle of the book where we start reading parts of Grace's journal that really, in my opinion, made the book start to sparkle. I was riveted and intrigued. I couldn't turn pages fast enough in an effort to learn what really happened!
What I Liked: I liked that there was a twist with the main protagonist that I just didn't seem coming. It did explain much of his behavior that I did not quite understand. The twist also tied together some things that I had been questioning the whole book.
What made me go HUH?: There were a few parts of the story I didn't like: the affair was a big one. I just didn't see the need for it but it didn't distract from the story for me. It did make me like the characters a little less though.
Final Thought: I think if you are a fan of Peter Robinson, you will like this stand alone novel. I also think if you are history/true crime buff you will enjoy it too. The crime isn't real but the way he hunts down the story reminds of investigation discovery.
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 3.75
First thought when Finished: That last half of this book was really well done and kept me riveted!
What I Loved: I can't really go into detail about what I loved about Before the Poison or the review would be full of spoilers. I will say there is a distinct point in the middle of the book where we start reading parts of Grace's journal that really, in my opinion, made the book start to sparkle. I was riveted and intrigued. I couldn't turn pages fast enough in an effort to learn what really happened!
What I Liked: I liked that there was a twist with the main protagonist that I just didn't seem coming. It did explain much of his behavior that I did not quite understand. The twist also tied together some things that I had been questioning the whole book.
What made me go HUH?: There were a few parts of the story I didn't like: the affair was a big one. I just didn't see the need for it but it didn't distract from the story for me. It did make me like the characters a little less though.
Final Thought: I think if you are a fan of Peter Robinson, you will like this stand alone novel. I also think if you are history/true crime buff you will enjoy it too. The crime isn't real but the way he hunts down the story reminds of investigation discovery.