I, Richard - Elizabeth George [0]
I, RICHARD
“George is dizzyingly gifted at tickling readers with suspense before she smacks them with resolutions that are nasty but appropriate…. Solid-gold shockers.”
—People
“There is nothing like a change in pace to make you appreciate a favorite author all over again.”
—The Charlotte Observer
“Displays her talent for short fiction… satisfactorily shivery.”
—The Orlando Sentinel
“Shows her skill at delivering distilled shocks to the reader's nervous system … The introductions provided for each
story are marvelous in themselves … What more could a crime collection have?”
—Booklist
“Fascinating… a must for Elizabeth George fans.”
—Deadly Pleasures
“George's sharp understanding of ‘core needs' means surprising yet believable denouements.”
—Pages
“A carefully crafted group, each story constructed like a highly polished puzzlebox… George demonstrates that she is a modern, female version of Saki or O. Henry—clever with her hands at fashioning intricate plots, but quick on her feet with making it seem that everything in the parlor is perfectly normal—as long as you don't open the cellar door.”
—BookstreetUSA
ALSO BY ELIZABETH GEORGE
A Great Deliverance
Payment in Blood
Well-Schooled in Murder
A Suitable Vengeance
For the Sake of Elena
Missing Joseph
Playing for the Ashes
In the Presence of the Enemy
Deception on His Mind
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
A Traitor to Memory
A Place of Hiding
For Rob and Glenda
CONTENTS
Introduction to “Exposure”
Exposure
Introduction to “The Surprise of His Life”
The Surprise of His Life
Introduction to “Good Fences Aren't Always Enough”
Good Fences Aren't Always Enough
Introduction to “Remember, I'll Always Love You”
Remember, I'll Always Love You
Introduction to “I, Richard”
I, Richard
Introduction to
Exposure
I first wrote this story for Sisters in Crime (Volume II), having been inspired to do so by taking two summer sessions at Cambridge University through a program offered by UCLA. The first session, in 1988, was called “The Country Houses of Great Britain,” and from it I took my initial inspiration for a story which I called “The Evidence Exposed.” The second session, in 1989, was a course on Shakespeare, and its curious and whimsical look at William Shakespeare as a closet Marxist—no matter the anachronous bent of such a look!—became part of the foundation for a novel I wrote called For the Sake of Elena, which was set in Cambridge.
“The Evidence Exposed” was my first attempt at a crime story in abbreviated form. It was also the first short story I'd written in about twenty years. As such, it was a noble effort, but I was never completely happy with it. Indeed, fairly soon after publication, I realized that I'd killed the wrong person, and it became my intention to rewrite the story if I ever had the chance to do so.
A lot of life supervened in the meantime. I always seemed to have other novels under contract, courses to teach, and research to do. Occasionally, even, I was asked to write other short stories and when the request coincided with an idea that I believed could be contained in less than six hundred pages, I'd apply myself once again to the challenging format.
Finally, my Swedish publisher wanted to put out a “slim volume” of my stories—of which, at this point, there were only three. I agreed. My English publisher discovered this book and weighed in with a request to print it in English. My German and French publishers followed suit. And in very short order, my American publisher made the same request. At this point I realized that it was time to rewrite “The Evidence Exposed” as well as to add to the small collection two more stories that I'd been mulling over.
Consequently, I set about revising and rewriting “The Evidence Exposed,” and what you have here—for the first time—is the new version of that older and far clunkier story.
I'm quite pleased with the way it came out. It has a new point of view and a new victim. And Abinger Manor has a