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    Verdict of Twelve
    Verdict of Twelve
    Verdict of Twelve
    Ebook250 pages5 hours

    Verdict of Twelve

    By Raymond Postgate and Martin Edwards

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    About this ebook

    Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder

    "A classic reprint you can't afford to miss." —Kirkus Reviews

    A woman is on trial for her life, accused of murder. The twelve members of the jury each carry their own secret burden of guilt and prejudice which could affect the outcome.

    In this extraordinary crime novel, we follow the trial through the eyes of the jurors as they hear the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict. Will they find the defendant guilty, or not guilty? And will the jurors' decision be the correct one?

    Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. This edition offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired the novel for so long.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateOct 3, 2017
    ISBN9781464207914
    Verdict of Twelve
    Author

    Raymond Postgate

    RAYMOND POSTGATE (1896–1971) was a socialist journalist and historian, and founder of the Good Food Guide. He also wrote highly regarded detective novels; Somebody at the Door and Verdict of Twelve.

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    Reviews for Verdict of Twelve

    4/5

    52 ratings7 reviews

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    • 2/5
      A jury of twelve who carry their own prejudices must bring in a verdict of a woman accused of murder.
      It was just about interesting enough to finish reading to find the verdict, but not really any tension in the story.
      Originally published in 1940.
      A NetGalley Book
    • 4/5
      Some parts of this is quite dated and some of the attitudes, particularly to some of the female characters, but it is of it's period. Published in 1940 this is an interesting twist on a courtroom drama. It's divided into four parts. First we're introduced to the Jury, then the case is laid out, then the trial and verdict and then, finally the story is wrapped up in a short postscript (7 pages).The pen pictures of the various jurors was interesting and it did feed into the attitudes of each juror to the situation and to the case, no-one of them is truly neutral and it does point out how the hope that 12 people can't always be without an opinion about almost every situation.The mystery is about a young boy, Philip Arkwright who is an orphan and in care of his aunt, .Rosalie van Beer. His family are monied and she wasn't really part of the family, being only married to one of the younger sons for a short while before he dies in the First World War. She had retreated into drink until she realises that she's the boy's only remaining relative. She treats him as an invalid and it's hard to know how many of his issues are created and how many are inherent. He has several tutors and a doctor that's not at the prime of his career. He's also known to have a "sensitive stomach" so when he reacts to something he eats no-one is surprised, when he dies they are. Poison is suspected and the main suspect is his aunt.Of course today there would be more forensics but there was a fair amount here and there was a lot of messy lives being lived. Rosalie isn't a sympathetic character and I wasn't sure throughout what had happened. Still it was an interesting look at life in the period. There was a lot of snobbery on the part of a lot of the characters throughout and assumptions.Very satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate is a courtroom crime classic that was originally published in 1940 and now has been re-issued as a British Library Crime Classic. I have a confession to make in that I don’t usually like courtroom drama but I have to say, this book kept me glued to the pages from start to finish. In the beginning we are introduced to the varied members of the jury and given a short history about each of them. This personality sketch comes in handy when the jury is in deliberation and each juror’s personality plays a part in whether or not they think the defendant is guilty. The mystery itself is intriguing and I was interested to see how this would play out as there really was a significant doubt as to what actually happened. This is a story of human behavior and the nature of justice. It is rather frightening how much of this jury’s opinion was formed by the appearance of the defendant and the various witnesses. Their own position in society seems to determine whether or not they would vote guilty. Verdict of Twelve is original, clever and I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Postgate wrote only a few novels and my first impression of The Verdict of Twelve was that he was emptying his ideas notebook. The book begins with a description of the members of a murder trial jury as they are sworn in. The background stories vary in length and detail but include a stand-alone murder story. They occupy more than a third of the whole book. The rest of the work is equally divided between a description of the case and the course of the trial. A brief postscript lets the reader know what really happened.Postgate had given much thought to the various ways in which jurors might cope with their task and the extended first part of the book provides the characters to display the different attitudes. The author needs more credit for good plot construction than I gave him at first.The case concerns the death of a young orphan who is in the care of an appalling aunt. It is easy to see how she ends up in the dock despite a lack of firm evidence against her. Readers who know their Saki will guess, from the pet rabbit's name, how the accused's counsel will handle her defence long before he explains it to the jury.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This was a very enjoyable story about the court case for a murder. It introduces the reader to the jurors and shares their peculiarities and oddities. We hear the evidence and are given more background than the jurors would learn from the witnesses and the barristers. We are then brought into the jury room for final deliberations.This book demonstrates the weaknesses of trial by jury and demonstrates how difficult it would be for twelve individuals to focus purely on the evidence of any case give their varied backgrounds and inherent prejudices. Postgate tells this story while maintaining a degree of humour and manages to keep the reader’s attention to the end.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book was sent to me by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley. Thank you.This mystery is the classic story of how a jury views the evidence presented in a murder trial that is not cut-and dried. Rosalie van Beer is being tried for the poisoning of her eleven-year-old nephew Philip. The poison hererin was very exotic, although readily available in the form of ivy pollen from the overgrown vines in the back garden. Did she kill the young boy she hated? After all, she was no blood kin, having been married to his uncle for only four months before her husband was killed in WWI. She stood to inherit a nice amount of cash. Maybe it was the cook and her caretaker husband who also would inherit a tidy sum for retirement. Maybe it was a tragic accident helped by the senile doctor who did not recognize the symptoms and gave the wrong diagnosis. Or it could even be suicide. A very unhappy child had lost his parents in a plane crash and then his grandfather from a massive heart attack on the same day. He was withdrawn from his beloved school and lived in the household of a woman he hated because she gassed his pet rabbit claiming it was “dirty.” He was a clever lad, according to his tutor, well able to read up on poisons.The chosen jury consists of a woman who got away with murder (not really a spoiler since it is revealed in the first chapter) and understands how simple it is to commit a crime. Included are a young woman who mistrusts the justice system because her husband was killed in a vicious attack and nothing much was done about it; a religious fanatic; a pompous classics professor who only accepts documentary evidence; a publican who had issues with the police. They, with the remaining jurors, hold Rosalie van Beer’s fate in their hands. Would they be right or wrong? The final section lets the reader know what actually happened.This is a fantastic novel that has stood the time test since being published in 1940. The reader may become a bit cynical about how justice is really being served after reading Verdict of Twelve.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This is a clever murder mystery novel presented in a unique way. It is best not to read the ending before you read the rest of the book. There is a satisfying conclusion to the story despite some moral ambiguity about the result. This provides plenty for food for thought after you finish the book.There are four parts to the book. The first one is devoted to introducing each of the jurors who will ultimately decide the fate of the yet to be determined accused. They are a mixed bag of humanity; one of them is a murderer who “got away” with it the crime. The second part is the crime story during which readers find out who is killed and who is accused. It’s death by poison and there’s several potential accused persons, but it comes as no real surprise when the identity of the accused is revealed. The third part covers the trial and the presentation of evidence against the accused. One of the defenses raised is that there has been no crime: the victim committed suicide! When you come to the jury deliberations, your reader’s memory of the first part is tested: can you remember who is who, and what are their foibles? The author kindly includes some prompts to help with that. Lastly, after the verdict, is the “reveal”: when the reader finds out what really happened. It’s a fascinating well-plotted read that requires close attention to the narrative. There’s actually two stories: the crime story and the jury trial one.The Introduction by Martin Edwards is a welcome addition (as it is in other British Library Crime Classics), and puts the author and this book in context with respect to the Golden Age. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy to review.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Verdict of Twelve - Raymond Postgate

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