Crime fiction of the highest order: We, The Accused

It's probably a little too long and at times a little too melodramatic, but Ernest Raymond's 1935 "crime" novel, We, The Accused, has to stand as one of the best in its genre ever. Like its antecedent Crime and Punishment, there is no doubt or ambiguity about who committed the crime - Paul Pessett is as guilty as Raskolnikov - but from that standpoint each novel opens up into a whole world. In both cases, we see every aspect of the killing and of the consequences that follow. WtA is not so profound, psychiatric, and philosophical as C&P , of course, nor is it meant to be; but Raymonds ambitions are high, and he uses the case of Paul Pessett to show us how one criminal act can affect so many people and can imbue an entire culture and society, if only for a moment; we see the crime, the growing suspicion, the pursuit, the apprehension, and the trial (and I will not reveal the ending except to say that it's powerful and fitting), mostly from an omniscient but close third-person POV but also from the perspective of Pessett's beloved Myra, from his parents' standpoint, from the police detectives standpoint, and others. ER states at the outset that this novel is not documentary, nor does he attempt to portray the British justice system at any point in time; he acknowledges many anachronisms, and - rightly - states that his goal was to tell a great story and not let topical details get in the way. That said, few novels, crime or otherwise, are so ambitious and comprehensive and actually scary, and seldom can a novelist build such sympathy for a protagonist who is an admitted killer; the only immediate comparison that comes to mind is Mailer's The Executioner's Song, a much more difficult case in that that killer (Gary Gilmore) was so obviously sadistic and anti-social. Pessett a mild and likable man and an unlikely killer and a man wracked by guilt (though not fear) - yet nothing about this novel feels forced or preposterous (the police procedures of course would be tremendously different today; the media saturation coverage would be likely pretty much the same. Thanks to friend DJC for recommending this mostly forgotten novel. As I've often said, I much prefer a B-level novel that accomplishes all of its goals than a supposed A-level that falls flat on its face. This book is crime fiction of the highest order.