If you’re looking for a good beach read or plane/car trip entertainment this summer, take a look at White Mischief, written by James Fox.
White Mischief is a fascinating tale of Colonial Kenya in the early 1940’s. It’s a non-fiction book that reads like a mystery novel. The book centers on a group of British Aristocrats and their wild enclave, called “Happy Valley.” One of its prized residents, Lord Erroll, is murdered. The resulting investigation uncovers the hidden realities in Happy Valley: Alcoholism, Adultery, Drugs, lavish spending, Wife-Swapping, and much more. While their fellow countrymen and women were at war, the idle rich partied without a care in the world.
The first part of White Mischief focuses on the trial of Lord Erroll’s accused killer, Lord Broughton. Lord Broughton was having an affair with the victim’s wife and his motive seemed apparent. The second part focuses on the investigation and evidence, including Fox’s extensive sleuthing. (He personally didn’t agree with the acquittal of Lord Broughton, and considered the trial spoiled by corruption and perjury.)
The unrelenting publicity took its toll on Happy Valley. Many of the residents met sudden and/or unfortunate ends. Lord Broughton committed suicide shortly after his stunning acquittal. Only Diana, Lady Delamere, was unscathed. Though her husband was murdered and her lover committed suicide, she went on to remarry the largest landowner in Kenya. At the time of her death, she was considered the most powerful white woman in Africa.
The trial, and resulting book, garnered worldwide attention. It was a fascination that never died and 46 years after the murder, it was turned into a Hollywood movie of the same title. The movie starred Greta Scacchi and Charles Dancer (who will be recognized by Games of Thrones fans). Both movie and book are fabulous, but the book is obviously more in depth.
White Mischief is out of print, but there are many used copies on Amazon and a Kindle edition is available.
