She Who Was No More 1952 detective book

Name: She Who Was No More
Rating: 4.6 (74 reviews)

She Who Was No More 1952 detective story

She Who Was No More (1952, France)

Original title: Celle qui n’était plus

Fernand Ravinel, a travelling salesman of a fishing equipment, is about to commit a crime that could change his life forever. Together with his mistress, a doctor names Lucienne, he plans to kill his wife, Mirelle. But the reason why they want to kill Mirelle is more prosaic than the affair itself. Two years ago Fernand convinced his wife that since he is travelling all over the country, if something happens to him, she would be left penniless, so the best thing to do is to take life insurance. That way, if he would die, she at least be financially secured. Just to be on the safe side, he also talked her into taking one for herself. This way, if she would die, he would get the compensation. Now, it has been almost two years since they signed the insurance forms, which is exactly the period insurance does not cover sudden deaths or suicides. And that is where the plan begins - Fernand and Lucienne are about to kill Mirelle for the insurance money and start a new life in a better part of France.

The first novel by the writing duo, Boileau-Narcejac, is a suspense thriller, if there is a genre that would cover what She Who Was No More actually is. Later this novel was loosely adapted into a movie Les Diaboliques by Henri-Georges Clouzot (although Clouzot made some significant changes to the main plot) and later the American remake called Diabolique. It is a dark tale of a man, who despite the fact that the whole idea fills him with disgust, is ready to commit a crime that seems just heartless, but in fact is a story even darker than he initially thought.

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