The Cinema Murder
1917
The Cinema Murder is a 1917 novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim that follows Philip Romilly, a discontented young art student who returns to his hometown of Detton Magna. There, he confronts unsettling changes in the life of his former fiancée, Beatrice, who now enjoys a luxurious lifestyle that hints at betrayal. The narrative explores themes of jealousy, identity, and moral dilemmas as Philip grapples with his emotions and the societal constraints surrounding him, ultimately leading to a dramatic and unexpected conclusion.
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“Fate makes queer uses of all of us sometimes. She sends her noblest sons down into the shadows and pitchforks her outcasts into the high places of life. Those do best who learn to control themselves, to live and think for the best.””
— E. Phillips Oppenheim
“WITH A SOMEWHAT PROLONGED GRINDING of the brakes and an unnecessary amount of fuss in the way of letting off steam, the afternoon train from London came to a standstill in the station at Detton Magna. An elderly porter, putting on his coat as he came, issued, with the dogged aid of one bound by custom to perform a hopeless mission, from the small, redbrick lamp room. The station master, occupying a position of vantage in front of the shed which enclosed the booking office, looked up and down the lifeless row of closed and streaming windows, with an expectancy dulled by daily disappointment, for the passengers who seldom alighted. On this occasion no records were broken. A solitary young man stepped out on to the wet and flinty platform, handed over the half of a third-class return ticket from London, passed through the two open doors and commenced to climb the long ascent which led into the town.””
— E. Phillips Oppenheim
