Modern Classics Payment Deferred

By C.S. Forester and Forester C. S.

Book Overview

Mr Marble is in serious debt, desperate for money to pay his family's bills, until the combination of a wealthy relative, a bottle of Cyanide and a shovel offer him the perfect solution. In fact, his troubles are only just beginning. Slowly the Marble family becomes poisoned by guilt, and caught in an increasingly dangerous trap of secrets, fear and blackmail. Then, in a final twist of the knife, Mrs Marble ensures that retribution comes in the most unexpected of ways ...

First published in 1926, C. S. Forester's gritty psychological thriller took crime writing in a new direction, portraying ordinary, desperate people committing monstrous acts, and showing events spiralling terribly, chillingly, out of control.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141198109
• ISBN13: 9780141198101
• Release Date: February 2012
• Publisher: Penguin Classic
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A little gem of suspense

This early novel by the creator of Horatio Hornblower is a little gem of suspense. Nicely done, in a spare style, this moves along a nice clip. Hitchcock might have done a good film of this - attention filmmakers - it's not too late. Of course it would work best as a period piece, set like the novel between the wars. No spoilers here - just a nod to a terrific writer near the beginning of his illustrious career. Ignore the naysayers - you'll like it.

excellent mystery

This was the first succestfull novel by C.S. Foresterand I believe the only mystery that he wrote which is unfortunate! It is well structured with many plot twists and a classic ending!

Payment Deferred - Forester's first published novel

Payment deferred is a superbly written crime novel. The main charachter is well developed and the dark plot leads to the excellent final twist. Truely a milestone in crime fiction this book was unfortunatly overshadowed by Agatha Christie's 'Murder of Roger Ackroyd ' published the same year. In my opinion this book is second only to ' The general ' as forester's best work and shows that Hornblower is only a small part of the man's literary achievments.