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The Death Wish / Net of Cobwebs
DEATH WISH
Poor Mr. Delancey. His wife Josephine belittles him, controlling his purse strings and managing his life. It's understandable that one might grow a bit resentful. His best friend, Robert Whitestone, is a frustrated artist. Whitestone hates his wife, and is in love with a young girl named Elsie who has come to stay with their neighbors, the Luffs. But Whitestone has a plan to free himself, and naturally Delancey is pulled into the middle of it, willingly or not. And when Mrs. Whitestone is found drowned, what can poor Delancey do? He has to help his friend, no matter what the consequences. If only his wife weren't so hateful about the whole thing, so unreasonable. It's only when young Hugh Acheson comes to visit and begins an investigation of his own that things become really complicated. Poor Mr. Delancey--what's a man to do? It's enough to drive a person to murder.
NET OF COBWEBS
Malcolm Drake had been a merchant seaman, but has returned from the war a changed man, his nerves completely frayed. Now he lives at his brother Arthur's house, with his sister-in-law Helene and her sister Virginia--and their domineering Aunt Evie. Aunt Evie only wants what is best for Malcolm, of course, but when she drops dead one evening at a party, the rumors quickly spread that he had something to do with it. Dr. Lurie is sure that Malcolm had loaded her glass with alcohol, inducing a heart attack. The butler, Ben, even claims to have seen him do it. One of the guests, Aunt Evie's young protEgE, Ivan Jenette, has news to the contrary, but has conveniently disappeared. Their neighbor, Lily Kingscrown, believes in his innocence, but there is something decidedly strange going on at her house--her own maid goes into screaming fits for apparently no reason. And now the police have some questions of their own. Malcolm is enmeshed in a neb of cobwebs, and the strands are growing tighter by the moment.
Poor Mr. Delancey. His wife Josephine belittles him, controlling his purse strings and managing his life. It's understandable that one might grow a bit resentful. His best friend, Robert Whitestone, is a frustrated artist. Whitestone hates his wife, and is in love with a young girl named Elsie who has come to stay with their neighbors, the Luffs. But Whitestone has a plan to free himself, and naturally Delancey is pulled into the middle of it, willingly or not. And when Mrs. Whitestone is found drowned, what can poor Delancey do? He has to help his friend, no matter what the consequences. If only his wife weren't so hateful about the whole thing, so unreasonable. It's only when young Hugh Acheson comes to visit and begins an investigation of his own that things become really complicated. Poor Mr. Delancey--what's a man to do? It's enough to drive a person to murder.
NET OF COBWEBS
Malcolm Drake had been a merchant seaman, but has returned from the war a changed man, his nerves completely frayed. Now he lives at his brother Arthur's house, with his sister-in-law Helene and her sister Virginia--and their domineering Aunt Evie. Aunt Evie only wants what is best for Malcolm, of course, but when she drops dead one evening at a party, the rumors quickly spread that he had something to do with it. Dr. Lurie is sure that Malcolm had loaded her glass with alcohol, inducing a heart attack. The butler, Ben, even claims to have seen him do it. One of the guests, Aunt Evie's young protEgE, Ivan Jenette, has news to the contrary, but has conveniently disappeared. Their neighbor, Lily Kingscrown, believes in his innocence, but there is something decidedly strange going on at her house--her own maid goes into screaming fits for apparently no reason. And now the police have some questions of their own. Malcolm is enmeshed in a neb of cobwebs, and the strands are growing tighter by the moment.
- GenresMystery
275 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
19 people want to read
About the author
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
91 books34 followersElisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889-1955) was born and brought up in New York and educated at Miss Whitcombe's and other schools for young ladies. In 1913 she married George Holding, a British diplomat. They had two daughters and lived in various South American countries, and then in Bermuda, where her husband was a government official. Elisabeth Sanxay Holding wrote six romantic novels in the 1920s but, after the stock market crash, turned to the more profitable genre of detective novels: from 1929-54 she wrote eighteen, as well as numerous short stories for magazines. In 1949 Raymond Chandler chose her as 'the best character and suspense writer (for consistent but not large production)', picking The Blank Wall (1947) as one of his favourites among her books; it was filmed as The Reckless Moment in 1949 (by Max Ophuls) and as The Deep End (with Tilda Swinton) in 2001. After her husband's retirement the Holdings lived in New York City. Her series character was Lieutenant Levy. Holding also wrote numerous short stories for popular magazines of the day.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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July 24, 2018Net of Cobwebs--I find her style a bit unapproachable, but I stuck with this story (having read the first before) and I finally came around. Very atmospheric, and creepily gets inside the protangonist's head.
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July 16, 2009
Two quick suspense tales for the price of one. Not really dated at all. Can see why Raymond Chandler considered her the top suspense writer of her time.
June 23, 2014
I liked both of these almost as much as The Innocent Mrs. Duff, one of my best finds of the year so far. Holding's characters' anxiety-filled inner monologues are amazing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews