''A Penknife in My Heart'' is a 1958

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Su ...

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

, written under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. It was one of four stand-alone novels he wrote alongside the

Nigel Strangeways Nigel Strangeways is a fictional British private detective created by Cecil Day-Lewis, writing under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. He was one of the prominent detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, appearing in sixteen novels betwee ...

detective novels. The plot is reminiscent of

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...

's 1950 novel '' Strangers on a Train''. In his preface to the novel Day-Lewis apologised for the similarity, explaining that he had neither read Highsmith's novel nor seen the subsequent film adaptation by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

. He thanked Highsmith "for being so charmingly sympathetic over the predicament in which the long arm of coincidence" placed him.Malmgren p.138

Synopsis

Two men meet for the first time and find they both are in the same situation. Both desire someone to be murdered but fear being caught. They agree to swap killings, thereby giving each other perfect alibis.

References

Bibliography

* Bargainnier, Earl F. ''Twelve Englishmen of Mystery''. Popular Press, 1984. * Malmgren, Carl Darryl. ''Anatomy of Murder: Mystery, Detective, and Crime Fiction''. Popular Press, 2001. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Stanford, Peter. ''C Day-Lewis: A Life''. A&C Black, 2007. 1958 British novels Novels by Cecil Day-Lewis British crime novels British thriller novels Collins Crime Club books Novels set in London {{1950s-thriller-novel-stub