The Colour of Murder

Written by Julian Symons

Narrated by Peter Wickham

John Wilkins meets a beautiful, irresistible girl, and his world is turned upside down. Looking at his wife, and thinking of the girl, everything turns red before his eyes – the colour of murder. But did he really commit the heinous crime he was accused of?

Told innovatively in two parts: the psychiatric assessment of Wilkins and the trial for suspected murder on the Brighton seafront, this award-winning crime novel from 1957 is a gripping examination of the psychology of murder and the nature of justice, unravelling the mystery by showing the events leading up to a murder, and the psychiatric evaluation which follows.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soundings
• Release date: Apr 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781407975399

Julian Symons

Julian Symons is primarily remembered as a master of the art of crime writing. However, in his eighty-two years he produced an enormously varied body of work. Social and military history, biography and criticism were all subjects he touched upon with remarkable success, and he held a distinguished reputation in each field. His novels were consistently highly individual and expertly crafted, raising him above other crime writers of his day. It is for this that he was awarded various prizes, and, in 1982, named as Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America – an honour accorded to only three other English writers before him: Graham Greene, Eric Ambler and Daphne Du Maurier. He succeeded Agatha Christie as the president of Britain’s Detection Club, a position he held from 1976 to 1985, and in 1990 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers for his lifetime’s achievement in crime fiction. Symons died in 1994.

Reviews for The Colour of Murder

[Shaelyn P · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quite slow but it was good to listen to falling asleep and I did want to know whodunnit. If you like these British crime library classics, this one is worth checking out.