Freeman Wills Croft is one of the “Golden Age” detective fiction writers. He’s particularly known for his books with intriguing puzzles and complicated timetables. Antidote to Venom, which was first published in 1938, is, however, a little different. We know the perpetrator from the beginning and follow his story as the investigation proceeds and the situation becomes very complex and then when the narrative shifts to concentrate on Inspector French as he works out who has committed the crime and why.
The main character is George Surridge who is the director of a municipal zoo. The zoo background and especially the reptiles play an important part in this novel which provides an unusual background for the crime. George is a bit of a gambler and his marriage is insecure. He desperately needs more money, especially as he has fallen in love. He therefore devises a very complicated murder which begins to become unravelled and requires a lot of effort in order to cover up his involvement.
The book is clever and the point of view of the murderer is an unusual one. It is fair to say, however, that the plot and what happens is the focus of the story and that many of the characters are a little wooden and obvious. George, however, is a brilliant main character and the author depicts his increasing desperation very well – we almost feel sympathy for him, despite what he does.
This book is quite an unusual crime novel, especially for the period in which it was written. You can read my review of a more typical book by this author here. If you are a crime fiction reader I would recommend that you try this book as I found it a very enjoyable read. I had a reissued edition in the series published by the British Library which has a beautiful cover.
Anne Is Reading 