Crime & detection · 1943 · novel

The Ministry of Fear

by Graham Greene

The Ministry of Fear is a 1943 novel written by Graham Greene. It was first published in Britain by William Heinemann. It was made into the 1944 film Ministry of Fear, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Ray Milland. The title is explained in the book. The Nazi regime, in countries it controlled and in those it intended to subvert, built up information on individuals in order to blackmail them into co-operation. This Greene called their ministry of fear. In London during the Blitz, Arthur Rowe attends a charity fête. Convicted of murder for the mercy killing of his wife, he has just been released from a psychiatric prison. A fortune-teller tells him the answer to the "guess the weight of the cake" competition, enabling Rowe to win it. As he leaves, the organisers try to take the cake back, saying there's been a mistake, but Rowe refuses. The next day, a man offers Rowe money for the cake and then tries to poison him, but an air raid bomb demolishes the house, knocking them both out. Worried for himself and wary of the police, Rowe hires a private detective to watch him and goes to the charity that ran the fête. There he meets Willi and Anna Hilfe, Austrian refugees...

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