You'll like this if: You want to read the forerunner to the influx of psychological thrillers currently topping the charts ('The Girl on the Train' et al.) The Classic Choice: ‘A Kiss Before Dying’ – Ira Levin, 1953 It bridges the gap between a complex howdunit (where a seemingly impossible murder is carried out and our protagonist is tasked with deciphering its logistics) and the classic whodunit.īoth Levin and Turton still promise the twists and the surprises expected in any investigative crime novel, but with the caveat that even the most avid crime aficionado will never have read anything quite like this before. It is, however, perhaps harder to define.

The more recent choice, Stuart Turton's 'The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle', also bears all the hallmarks of a promising film adaptation – a highly original premise but with the zeitgeisty feel of a Black Mirror episode. However, his stunning debut novel is just as cinematic in writing style.

We may know Levin best for his books that were transformed into cult cinema – ‘The Stepford Wives’ and ‘Rosemary's Baby’. Ira Levin's 1950s novel 'A Kiss Before Dying' is a near perfect example. This month I offer up a classic whydunit, a subgenre defined by having a perpetrator who is immediately or rapidly uncovered – perhaps even acting as narrator – but we stay on board as readers in order to understand their motivations and discover if they will ever be caught. The excitement for the reader comes not in helping a detective to track down their perpetrator, but in being given access to the dark mind of the killer and the backstory of their crimes.

As our contemporary fascination with the ‘psychological thriller' continues to grow, we increasingly see a focus on emotion over procedure in popular crime. Her monthly feature, ‘Book Club Picks’, will see Rose choose two books – one classic, one modern – with suggestions on discussion points for book clubs, as well as a brief description and comparison to other publications for more relaxed readers.Ĭonan Doyle and Christie fans will be very familiar with the concept of the 'whodunit' – a twisting literary trail from some nefarious crime to its perpetrator, with a healthy dose of red herrings and shock reversals thrown in for good measure.Īrguably more interesting, however, are two other offshoots of the crime genre – the ‘whydunit’ and the ‘howdunit’. She has a Masters in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Culture and Thought, as well as a Bachelors in English Literature & Philosophy. Rose Page is a Cheltenham local and college lecturer in English.

A kiss before dying levin