Mr. and Mrs. Marble live in a rather seedy house at 53 Malcolm Road in London, certainly not the best part of town, but it's all they can afford considering that neither Mr. or Mrs. Marble can live within their means. They are always in debt with no way out, until a nephew arrives one rainy and windy night with a wallet full of money, alone and with no living relatives, and a solution is seized – a most murderous scheme.

Although C.S. Forester is best known for his novels about naval warfare and seafaring life, he began his career as a crime writer. Payment Deferred was a highly popular and ground breaking novel when it was first published and was also made into a movie starring Charles Laughton in his first sensational success.

Well-paced and compact, Payment Deferred a macabre look at life after murder. You'll like the excellent final twist.