Book Review: A Little Death

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

A Little Death     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Laura Wilson
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Bantam, Oct 2000, $5.99, 320 pp.

In 1928 the English police arrest beautiful Georgina Gresham for murdering her millionaire husband James with a massive overdose of sedatives. The public and the legal system believed this was a crime of passion as most people accepted as gospel that Georgina was having. It was affair with an aristocrat. Her lofty attitude enforced public opinion, but the judge bent over backwards towards her side, which helped lead to her acquittal. Interestingly, Georgina inherited a small stipend, as the brunt of her spouse’s estate went to a Canadian relative, who threw her out of the family home. Georgina moved into a smaller home in London that she shared with her older brother Edmund Lomax and a housekeeper Ada Pepper.

In 1955, unable to deliver his products, the milkman peeks through a window and sees the bodies lying still. He calls the police, who find three corpses: Georgina, Edmund, and Ada all shot to death. The house is filthy and cluttered with all sorts of items, but no clues are found. The police conclude a suicide-double murder occurred, but no one knows which one pulled the trigger.

What led to these events and an even earlier death of Georgina’s younger brother requires the fan to read A LITTLE DEATH, an amazingly deep portrait study. The story line is rotated between the three prime characters so that the audience not only understands events, but also sees the perspective and motives of the characters. Laura Wilson’s debut novel is not for those individuals who likes action faster than the speed of light, but is a triumph for those in the audience who relish comprehending why people do what they do.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner