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About the author: Frances Newbold Noyes Hart (1890 – 1943) was an American writer whose short stories were published in Scribner's magazine, the Saturday Evening Post, and the Ladies' Home Journal. During World War I, she served as a translator with the Navy and as a canteen worker in France. Hart became famous for Pulitzer Prize-winning The Bellamy Trial, which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, published in book form, and later dramatized. (wikipedia)
Major characters:
- Madeleine Bellamy, the victim
- Stephen Bellamy, her husband
- Susan Thorne Ives, Stephen's lover
- Patrick Ives, Susan's husband
- Anthony Carver, judge
- Daniel Farr, prosecutor
- Dudley Lambert, defense attorney
Locale: near New York City
Synopsis: We are at the opening of the murder trial of Susan Ives and Stephen Bellamy, both accused in the murder of Stephen's wife Madeleine Bellamy. We see the action through the eyes of two unnamed reporters: a young, inexperienced woman and an older, veteran crime reporter.
Once the jury is seated, the prosecutor Daniel Farr makes a long opening statement. A parade of witnesses establishes the fact that Stephen's wife Madeleine had gone to the Thorne estate's garden cottage in the night for a tryst with Patrick Ives and wound up stabbed to death. Both of their spouses are the prime suspects.
Review: I immediately liked two things about this book. First, at the front is a comprehensive schedule of the trial, with all the characters identified. I referred to this page constantly. Second, the story is told from the point of view of a young newspaper writer who is covering her first trial, and is seated next to a veteran reporter who is filling her in on the background of the crime and court procedure. Neither one is named, which helps keep the focus on the trial. The procedural explanations given by the veteran reporter serve to inform the reader of what is happening.
The story is rigidly structured, each chapter comprises one day of the trial.
Everything proceeds in a somber, quiet manner until witness Luigi Orsini takes the stand, and provides a welcome comic relief in his Chico Marx-like response to questions. This serves as an "intermission" of sorts.
Finally we hear a verdict. But that is not the end, as a few surprises await, which are not listed in the "program".
You will enjoy this book, especially if:
- you read the Perry Mason books of Erle Stanley Gardner, and can't wait until the courtroom scene, this book is for you - it is all courtroom scene.
- you enjoy the hard-to-find books by Nancy Barr Mavity, which feature courtroom trials as seen by newspaper reporters.
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