A review by judyward
Before the Poison by Peter Robinson

4.0

Chris Lowndes, a grief-stricken widower, returns to England after living in the United States for 25 years and enjoying a successful career writing theme and atmospheric music for movies. He wants to move back to the Yorkshire dales where he grew up and he buys an old, neglected mansion called Kilnsgate House sight unseen. After moving in, he discovers that Grace Fox, once the mistress of Kilnsgate House, had been found guilty of poisoning her husband, Ernest, 50 years before and had been hanged. Chris becomes interested in the case and begins to search for information and talks to anyone who is still alive with memories of the events. The deeper he digs, the more he comes to realize that the case is much more complex than anyone realized. Robinson does an excellent job setting the scene and drawing the reader deeper into the unraveling mystery. However, this book also reminds readers that things are not always what they seem, jumping to conclusions can backfire, no one really knows what another person has experienced, and a single action can lead to a number of unexpected results.