Hare, Cyril - Suicide Excepted (1939)

Review by Nick Fuller

5/5

Hare’s third novel surpasses expectations — more complex than When the Wind Blows, and as skilful (in a different way) as An English Murder. An elderly pessimist apparently commits suicide at the third-rate hotel that was his ancestral home, and the insurance company refuses to cough up the cash. The deceased’s son, daughter and her fiancé set out to bring about a verdict of murder, and so inherit the money. Characterisation is spot-on. The son is remarkably unpleasant, a self-centred and greedy prig; and the fiancé, whom he despises, is a likeable and agreeable type. The story is very well-plotted; and, despite a surfeit of hotel guests with motives for murder, a very clever and shocking triple solution.

Suicide Excepted (1939) is a less interesting novel. Its murderer is easily spotted, and its puzzle plot is simple to solve. The business background that was so interesting in Tenant for Death is absent here.

Mike Grost

See also: http://www.classicmysteries.net/2012/03/suicide-excepted.html