Three Is A Lucky Number by Margery Allingham, 1955
The magic trick:
Promising a deeply disturbed scenario in the very first paragraph
First sentence. First paragraph. You’re hooked.
It’s clear from the start that we’re entering a deeply creepy psyche, and the rest of the story delivers as promised. And that’s quite a trick on Allingham’s part.
The selection:
At five o’clock on a September afternoon Ronald Torbay was making preparations for his third murder. He was being very careful. He realized that murdering people becomes more dangerous if you do it often.
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