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A review by efbeckett
A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong
2.0
After a rough first chapter that reads like a poor translation, this settles into an intriguing set-up that had me eager to find out where it was heading... Would the husband poison the neighbour who catches his wife's eye? Would the wife and neighbour poison the husband to get him out of the way? Would the husband and wife poison the husband's sister, a manipulator who is driving them apart?
None of the above, not at all what I predicted, in the worst way possible. The second half of the novel is unbelievably poor, one step from slapstick comedy, with the wife, husband, and neighbour piled into a car, picking up people from different walks of life at every stop, each with their annoying homespun wisdom offering the husband advice on his situation, all staying with the party long past the breaking point of credibility. Just dreadful.
None of the above, not at all what I predicted, in the worst way possible. The second half of the novel is unbelievably poor, one step from slapstick comedy, with the wife, husband, and neighbour piled into a car, picking up people from different walks of life at every stop, each with their annoying homespun wisdom offering the husband advice on his situation, all staying with the party long past the breaking point of credibility. Just dreadful.