Forgotten Book - Crime in Reverse

One of the joys of blogging is the range of contacts that I've had with so many interesting and thoughtful people over the years. As well as comments on the individual blog posts, I often receive private messages from fellow crime fans via my website (where there's a contact page) or by email and these give rise to some very informative discussions which add greatly to my stock of knowledge about the genre. 

A while ago, David Rodd got in touch to suggest Crime in Reverse by J. de Navarre Kennedy for the British Library's Crime Classics series. This was a book I'd never even heard of, but I managed to get hold of a copy (inscribed by Kennedy himself, which was a real bonus; no jacket, however - the image comes from Mark Terry's impressive facsimile dust jackets site) and I found it extremely readable, an example of an ironic story very much in the Francis Iles vein.

I devoured this novel with a great deal of pleasure. Kennedy has a smooth and readable style and his premise is fascinating. So how has this one slipped through the net so far as critics are concerned? Well, timing is so important in life, and certainly in an author's life. This novel was published in the autumn of 1939, when the world had other things on its mind. That is, I feel sure, why it's never had the attention it deserves. Poor Kennedy - this book deserved more fanfare than it received.

The premise is simple. At the start of the book we learn that Nicholas Chetwynd K.C. has just murdered a man. But the police have decided that someone else, a naive artist called Ricardo,is guilty. Chetwynd is offered the chance to defend Ricardo, and he accepts with alacrity...

There's a substantial trial scene, and overall the book benefits greatly from Kennedy's legal experience. Born in England and educated at Cambridge, he moved to Canada and became a respected lawyer and ultimately a judge. He lived from 1888 to 1979, and was clearly a man of varied talents. He wrote a couple of thrillers and a number of non-fiction books, but I doubt if any of them are as intriguing as Crime in Reverse.