Dec 3, 2023
It's time to fire up the Back of the Bookshelf time machine for another trip back into the literary past. Our story this time is an Edgar Wallace mystery called Circumstantial Evidence, which was originally published in 1929 along with seven of his other works in a collection called Circumstantial Evidence and Other Stories.
The story is set in England in the 1920s and is about a young woman who is accused of murder when her wealthy uncle dies in mysterious circumstances. The evidence against her is all circumstantial, but as the lawyer characters are quick to point out, that kind of evidence is often the hardest to refute. Is she guilty or innocent and what will happen when her case goes to trial? Listen to the episode to find out. Edgar Wallace's writing has very much fallen out of fashion now, but stories like this one are a reminder of why he was so popular in his day. It's a gripping tale which showcases his narrative skill and knowledge of the law.
Wallace was born in 1875, the product of a liaison between two actors at an after-show party. He left school at the age of twelve, but went on to became a prolific writer, whose output included 170 novels, 18 plays and 957 short stories. He died suddenly in 1932 while working on the screenplay for the original King Kong movie. More than 160 films have been made of his work, so this Back of the Bookshelf offering is part of a long tradition. It's narrated by C.J. Carter-Stephenson with music by Kevin MacLeod as usual (music licenced under Creative Commons: by attribution 3.0 licence). We hope you enjoy it.