Frederick Knott and Dial M for Murder

I'm fascinated by books which give a detailed insight into the way leading crime writers think. Examples that spring to mind are John Curran's study of Agatha Christie's notebooks and Barbara Reynolds' explanation of the collaborative writing process of The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace, in her bio of Sayers (extracts from which I included in Howdunit). 

And now I've read an interesting study of a niche topic - the way that Frederick Knott went about writing his highly successful stage play Dial M for Murder, famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock. Richard Weill's Frederick Knott and Dial M for Murder: The Creation and Evolution of an Iconic Thriller, published by McFarland, gives info about Knott's life and other work for stage and screen, as well as including a previously unpublished version of the play.

One of the key points that emerges from the text is the extent to which Knott laboured over his work. He was something of a perfectionist, and this may explain why he was very, very far from prolific (it probably helped that he earned a great deal of money from Dial M, despite selling the film rights for just £1000). There is a lot of detail about how he tinkered with apparently small elements of the story; this, I think, illustrates a level of care about his work that is common to a number of really successful creative people.

Knott met a variety of interesting people during his life - names like Selwyn Jepson, Maurice Evans (a fascinating character who not only starred in the stage play, but also, by the way, among other notable achievements, encouraged Hal David to become a lyricist), Roald Dahl, and Grace Kelly appear in the text: Weill squashes the notion that Knott and Kelly (who starred in the film of Dial M) had an affair, by the way. I was very glad to read this book and, who knows, it may well be a contender for next year's Edgar awards.