Arcturus Crime Classics showcase unjustly neglected works by great writers from the 1930s—the so-called golden age of crime writing—through to the 1970s. From conventional whodunnits to slick thrillers, the series encompasses every facet of this ever-popular genre. Described on its first publication in 1932 as "one of the finest studies of murder ever written", Before the Fact tells the tale of wealthy but plain Lina Mclaidlaw, who marries the charming and feckless Johnny Aysgarth against the advice of her father. Lina is certain she can change him for the better, until she is forced to acknowledge that he is a compulsive liar, a crook and a murderer. But still she loves him, while fearing she will inevitably become one of his victims.