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Cover of Before the Fact

How long does it take to read Before the Fact?

a murder story for ladies

Anthony Berkeley

Before the Fact by Anthony Berkeley takes about 5 hours 41 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 5 hours 41 minutes

A weekend read

First published 1932. 310 pages, about 85,250 words.

12 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 9 hours 28 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 5 hours 41 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 3 hours 33 minutes

The page count is the median across 16 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

"Some women give birth to murderers, some go to bed with them. Lina Aysgarth had lived with her husband for nearly eight years before she realized that she was married to a murderer." Johnny was delightful—and Lina loved him desperately. But his devastating charm was combined with a complete lack of both morals and income. Slowly Lina discovered what such a combination led to. The first indications seemed trivial, especially since, in his childish way, Johnny loved her. Not for along time did she realize that he had killed, and was planning to kill again. Made into the famous Cary Grant-Joan Fontaine motion picture Suspicion, this story has seldom been surpassed for sheer, blood-curdling suspense. As one reviewer said, "it induces such a There-butfor-the-Grace-of-God sensation that one remains shivering for hours."

Subjects: Fiction, Gangsters' spouses, Murderers, Fiction, mystery & detective, general, Psychological fiction, English Detective and mystery stories

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