The House by the River

‘The best murder story I have ever read’ The FieldSelected by Martin Edward as one of his 100 Classic Crime novels in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 BooksYoung poet Stephen Byrne lives an apparently tranquil life with his wife Margery at Hammerton Chase London in a Rococo house overlooking the River Thames. Whilst his now pregnant wife is away Stephen attends a dinner party. Returning home late and rather the worse for drink Stephen notices that the new maid Emily is rather pretty. When his unwanted advances are rejected and Emily starts screaming Stephen strangles her. Realising what he has done he turns to his mild-mannered best friend and neighbour to help dispose of the body in the Thames. But the river has an uncomfortable way of washing back the corpses grimly consigned to it…. About the Author. Sir Alan Herbert novelist soldier playwright law reformer member of Parliament for Oxford University was born in Surrey in 1890. He was educated at Winchester College and Oxford University. He fought at Gallipoli and the Western Front. On leave after being wounded he wrote in a few weeks his novel The Secret Battle a chronicle of the stress of life on the front line which was published in 1919. A prolific writer he wrote more than sixty novels including his best-known work The Water Gipsies. His one detective novel The House by the River was made into a film directed by Fritz Lang and became a classic of ‘Gothic noir’. Throughout his life the Thames had been his ‘unalloyed passion’ and fittingly he died at his Hammersmith Thameside house in 1971.. Praise for the Author. The Water Gipsies‘One long enchantment… The Water Gipsies is one of the most lovable books of recent times’The Sunday Times. The Secret Battle‘A soldier’s tale cut in stone to melt all hearts’Sir Winston Churchill. Holy Deadlock‘A shattering satire’New York Herald-Tribune‘Witty and amusing’New York Times