The Evil of the Day is a novel by Thomas Sterling, published in 1955

1955 in literature

The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*28 May - Philip Larkin makes a train journey from Hull to London which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings....

. The book is patterned after Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...

's Elizabethan comedy Volpone

Volpone

Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...

, and was later adapted for the stage by playwright Frederick Knott

Frederick Knott

Frederick Major Paull Knott was an English playwright, best known for writing the London-based stage thriller Dial M for Murder, which was later filmed in Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock....

 under the title of Mr. Fox of Venice. Together, these three works formed the basis of Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...

's 1967

1967 in film

The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....

 film The Honey Pot

The Honey Pot

The Honey Pot, also known as The Honeypot, is a 1967 crime comedy film made by Famous Artists Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film stars Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward, Cliff Robertson, Capucine, Edie Adams, and Maggie Smith. It was written for the screen and directed by Joseph L....

.

Plot introduction

The wealthy and wily Cecil Fox summons three old faces from his past to his villa in Venice to unwittingly take part in an elaborate charade inspired by Elizabethan literature. But when one of his guests is murdered in the night, Fox's production abruptly switches genres from comedy to full-blown murder mystery.