Raymond William Postgate (1896–1971)

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 show more 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. show less

Raymond Postgate’s name is virtually unknown today, but in his day, no less than Raymond Chandler lauded this novel, first published in 1940. Postgate makes his intention clear from the epigraph, which is by Karl Marx: “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but, on the contrary, their social existence determines their consciousness.” In other words, people make decisions emotionally based on their own histories and experiences, not on evidence and show more reason.

Rosalie van Beer, a selfish, social-climbing widow, is accused of poisoning to death her 11-year-old nephew, Philip Arkwright, whom she heartily disliked. (The feeling was, understandably, mutual.) His death left her a very wealthy woman. So did she kill the boy? Or is there another explanation? Postgate gives you the background of all 12 jurors — 10 men and two women — as well as of the accused and those around her, but it intensifies the tension rather than bogs down the suspenseful story. The ending is maddening, as many have pointed out, but, in Postgate’s defense, it makes his point admirably.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and British Library Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for reissuing this British crime classic. show less

I love the fact that the British Library Crime Classics, featuring lesser-known mysteries from the Golden Age, are being made available to a wider audience. I’ve read a number of these and this terrific police procedural of murder during World War 2 is among the best I’ve read in this series.

Grayling, a man on his way home from work in a train in wartime England, sits in a railway compartment with neighbors and coworkers. When he is later found dead (and the company payroll missing), show more many of the people in his compartment are found to have great reason to want to kill the man. This mystery wonderfully tells their stories, including the relationships each had with Grayling, and why each had a reason to want Grayling dead.

This is a well-written police procedural which sheds light on wartime life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. show less

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 show more 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. show less