Chris Lowndes has returned to England after a successful career as a composer of movie music in California. He has purchased a house outside of Richmond, Yorkshire. Shortly after he moves into the house, he discovers that it once housed a murderess. He sets out to find out her story, and as he searches into her life he gets a gut feeling that she hadn't actually committed the murder.
Author Peter Robinson tells the modern story of Chris' search interspersed with excerpts from the trial of Grace Fox and her personal journal. He meets with local people who tell him bits of the story, and in order to find out more about her he has to travel to Paris and South Africa.
Robinson is good at leading the reader down the garden path; the reader says "Ah ha! So, that is what really happened." only to find out that you need to follow Robinson down another path with much the same conclusion until the very end of the story when he reveals the truth.
Well written, "Before the Poison" grasps the reader by the hand and holds your attention throughout. No wonder Peter Robinson is one of my favourite authors.
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