Helpful Score: 4
A lonely, wealthy woman subjected to harassing phone calls hires a retired policeman to investigate the matter. Suffers a bit from an ending that, while it may have been a shock at the time, isn't much of a surprise now. Still as gracefully written as one would expect from Millar, one of the most underrated mystery writers.
Interesting example of 1950s psychological thriller. If you enjoy Hitchcock movies such as Vertigo, Marnie, or Spellbound, you might enjoy this.
Sadly, I've never warmed to Vertigo, and I had the same problem with this: its psychology seemed wild-eyed and over-heated, but at the same time, somehow, very innocent; its thrills were rendered obvious by 60+ years of similar "big twists."
As an unsettling glance back at life in mid-1950s America, it is the literary equivalent of a rather nasty fly caught in amber -- be prepared for casual racism, sexism, homophobia ... But it's clear that Millar was a talented writer, and captured the world just as it was.
Sadly, I've never warmed to Vertigo, and I had the same problem with this: its psychology seemed wild-eyed and over-heated, but at the same time, somehow, very innocent; its thrills were rendered obvious by 60+ years of similar "big twists."
As an unsettling glance back at life in mid-1950s America, it is the literary equivalent of a rather nasty fly caught in amber -- be prepared for casual racism, sexism, homophobia ... But it's clear that Millar was a talented writer, and captured the world just as it was.
A psychological suspense story. It won Millar an Edgar in 1955. Reprinted in the 1990s.
