The Fiend

by Margaret Millar

In Margaret Millar’s The Fiend (1964) a nine-year-old girl disappears and a local sex offender comes under suspicion. So begins a suspenseful investigation of an apparently tranquil California suburb which will expose a hidden tangle of fear and animosity, jealousy and desperation.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, American

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Margaret Ellis Millar (née Sturm) was an American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, she was educated there and in Toronto. She moved to the United States after marrying Kenneth Millar (better known under the pen name Ross Macdonald). They resided for decades in the city of Santa Barbara, which was often utilized as a locale in her later novels under the pseudonyms of San Felice or Santa Felicia.

Millar's books are distinguished by sophistication of characterization. Often we are shown the rather complex interior lives of the people in her books, with issues of class, insecurity, failed ambitions, loneliness or existential isolation or paranoia often being explored with an almost literary quality that transcends the mystery genre. Unusual people, mild societal misfits or people who don't quite fit into their surroundings are given much interior detail. In some of the books we are given chilling and fascinating insight into what it feels like to be losing touch with reality and evolving into madness. In general, she is a writer of both expressive description and yet admirable economy, often ambitious in the sociological underpinnings of the stories and the quality of the writing.

Millar often delivers effective and ingenious "surprise endings," but the details that would allow the solution of the surprise have usually been subtly included, in the best genre tradition. One of the distinctions of her books, however, is that they would be interesting, even if you knew how they were going to end, because they are every bit as much about subtleties of human interaction and rich psychological detail of individual characters as they are about the plot.

Millar was a pioneer in writing intelligently about the psychology of women. Even as early as the '40s and '50s, her books have a very mature and matter-of-fact view of class distinctions, sexual freedom and frustration, and the ambivalence of moral codes depending on a character's economic circumstances. Her earliest novels seem unusually frank. Read against the backdrop of Production Code-era movies of the time, they remind us that life as lived in the '40s and '50s was not as black-and-white morally as Hollywood would have us believe.

While she was not known for any one recurring detective (unlike her husband, whose constant gumshoe was Lew Archer), she occasionally used a detective character for more than one novel. Among her occasional ongoing sleuths were Canadians Dr. Paul Prye (her first invention, in the earliest books) and Inspector Sands (a quiet, unassuming Canadian police inspector who might be the most endearing of her recurring inventions). In the California years, a few books featured either Joe Quinn, a rather down-on-his-luck private eye, or Tom Aragorn, a young, Hispanic lawyer.
Sadly, most of Millar's books are out of print in America, with the exception of the short story collection The Couple Next Door and two novels, An Air That Kills and Do Evil In Return, that have been re-issued as classics by Stark House Press in California.

In 1956 Millar won the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, Best Novel award for Beast in View. In 1965 she was awarded the Woman of the Year Award by the Los Angeles Times. In 1983 she was awarded the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition of her lifetime achievements.

Reviews

[Deb Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young man who presents to the world as a good-looking, hard-working and responsible adult is also a diagnosed sexual psychopath.

Charlie Gowen was court ordered and remanded to the state mental hospital due to his inappropriate actions towards a child in the past. Charlie was discharged to the care of his older brother, Ben, found a good job and has had a girlfriend for the last year -- but Charlie's thoughts are still upsetting at times although he does his best to make both his brother and his employer happy. Still, old thought patterns are beginning to resurface...

Margaret Millar is an excellent storyteller. The plot flows easily, even though the subject matter is not of the easiest about which to write. The psychological insights Millar provides for all the main characters are intriguing and enlightening.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you follow my reviews, you might remember that I discovered Margaret Millar through the recommendation of comedian John Mulaney. You might also recall that I started with her 1955, Edgar award winning Beast In View, which I found on the underwhelming side (and how DARE it win the Edgar over the timeless The Talented Mr. Ripley?!?).

Well, I'm pleased to say The Fiend, published in 1964 and now out of print, is a superior creation, and my faith in Margaret Millar and John Mulaney has been restored. The book business is another story, though. Why is this one out of print but the fairly silly Beast in View has centre stage and a fun cover?

This story, featuring two young girls and a lurking registered sex offender, is low on the pulp meter, doesn't fall for obvious tropes, and is well written (particularly the dialogue is a pleasure to read). This book is anything but predictable - even the title isn't what you think it is.

Turns out, comedians can be a good source for book recs!

Millar's Wall of Eyes is up next...

[Shane Plassenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best novels I've read in a long time. It's now a personal favorite. A dark and well written tale brimming with wit and wisdom about the dynamic of the suburban American family and the way conventional society views sex offenders, children and marriage. Also, delightfully twisted and suspenseful with an ending you won't see coming.
Reminds me of how Ruth Rendell's psychological novels are.
Highly recommended.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been focusing on the books of Margaret Millar this month as I had four unread ones on my bookshelf. I've enjoyed each book I've read, Millar is a wonderful mystery writer and story-teller. The Fiend, published in 1964, is another excellent example of her writing skill. (NB. The title is at the same time somewhat misleading and also perfect)

Jessie is a 9-year old girl living in San Modesto CA. We see her playing in the park with her best friend Mary Martha. Charles Gowen sits in his car watching them. Jessie burns her hands playing on the monkey bars and the playground monitor sends them home. What do we learn about them and others in the next pages? Charles Gowen lives with his brother Ben and was once in trouble for something involving young girl(s). Mary Martha lives with her mother, who is separated from her husband, Sheridan, and fears that he is stalking them. She sees Charles's green car and fears that it is Sheridan. Jessie lives down the road with her parents, the Brants. They seem a normal family. Their neighbours, the Harringtons, are childless and Victoria spends an inordinate time and money on Jessie, to the chagrin of Jessie's mom and of Victoria's dad.

Charles thinks Jessie lives in Mary Martha's house and he sends an anonymous letter to Mary's mom Kate Oakley, advising her to take better care of her daughter, that the girl is reckless and might get hurt. This starts a chain of events and actions that make for a fascinating story. We get to delve into the lives of this group of people and learn their problems and weaknesses. When the unthinkable happens (I'll let you find out for yourself), their lives will be placed under a microscopic examination and I think you'll be surprised at the results.

As always, strong story-telling, great, fascinating, fully developed characters. It wasn't perfect and maybe not as complete as others of her stories, but still an entertaining, tense story. (4 stars)

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding psychological thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the very end. I couldn’t put it down. I was so caught up in this.

[Ebirdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great "character" or "psychological" novel, which I really enjoyed. I'd never heard of Margaret Millar before - to be honest I'm not even sure how I got this book. I think I received it in the book swap from my book group, but I'm not sure. I would like to read some of her others books (The Beast
Don't be put off by the subject matter of child molestation. It's the background of one of the characters, but it's not exactly the subject of the book.

Millar does an terrific job of drawing her characters but still leaves some mystery to the story, so it's actually quite suspenseful. Nothing in the book is exactly as it appears! And her dialogue is quite funny at times.

I'm really glad I read this story and I hope her other works are just as good.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. The language and attitudes clearly identify that the story takes place 50+ years ago, but Millar’s insights are so sharp and poignant, and the dialogue draws them so well, that the writing is that much more impressive. The subject matter is particularly edgy and ambitious for that time.

I found the story compelling, with a strong undercurrent of feeling that there was much more going on than met the eye - and there was already plenty going on that met the eye. I was fairly shocked by some of the events toward the end of the book. The affair between Dave and Virginia - did not see that coming. Dave and Ellen seemed to be a solid couple, Howard and Virginia’s relationship seemed irreparable, and it was another surprise to me that their fates seem to reverse in the final pages. I also remain unsure as to what Charlie did, or did not do, in his past. The depiction of Kate as a narcissistic, illogical, delusional individual was so realistic as to be infuriating, and Mac as her aspiring voice of reason was a great vehicle for illustrating her.

I think Margaret Millar is an underrated author, and this novel not nearly well known enough. Fantastic book.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

The /alt tag by the fifth star reads, "It was amazing."
Well, it was. I made my skin crawl, my heart bleed and my head spin.
Margaret Millar is a genius story-teller and this is the proof.

[PF O'Friar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of mice and men: Suburbia Edition!

I have the audible version.

Charlie had a bad rap and he was slow, something bad he did, would it haunt and his brother forever?
Plus: 3 families involved in a web of lost expectations and jealousy.
How sometimes suburban life is heavier than wars.
How a series of misunderstandings could ruin everyone's lives.

I loved how the author managed to think like the young girls think, mixing up half truthes that parents tell them.

I recommend

[Tyler Monsein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know what genre this is. It's just a net of tangled plots and characters. I still don't understand how Millar gave all of these wonderful characters room to breathe and express themselves naturally, effortlessly, while constricting the plot tighter and tighter around them. A must read for anyone interested in structure and character.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A suburban underbelly novel that slyly uses the reader's own expectations of danger and safety against them. We start this novel with two nine-year-old girls being watched on the playground by a registered sex offender, then we watch the girls go to where we hope they will be safe in their own homes. But, of course, nothing in the book is as simple as these early pages seem. Are these girls in danger? And if so, where is that danger coming from?

As we expand to see the lives and families of the girls Jessie and Mary Martha, as well as Charles the man who was watching them, we see the many ways adults prey on children. I say that and yet basically nothing in this book would count as abuse. There is no physical harm, but there is all kinds of manipulation. The girls represent something to the adults around them that is more than who they actually are, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Some of the characters can come off rather flat (particularly saintly librarian Louise) but it's easy to forgive because Millar is doing so many interesting things here.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Ross Macdonald's. If this book is any indication, I am definitely becoming a fan of his wife's. Obviously, dysfunctional families and crime were the two's specialties, but Millar seems to take the reader more inside the heads of her characters than Macdonald did. In this book, she still left plenty up to the imagination, a trait I like, by mentioning, sort of in passing without delving much into them, key points that might have affected the characters. Some authors do that in a frustrating way, leaving out too much, but she really knew what she was doing. This was a real page-turner, while being very well-written, and was I ever surprised by the ending!

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great all-round storytelling. Character-building, atmosphere and build-up were spot on. [4.5*]

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid, I read mystery books all the time, but hadn't in probably 15 years. This one is good at pulling you in and making you guess at what might happen, and gee whiz, I just might get back into mystery novels.

Lots of clever and funny lines, and distinctive dialogue/internal monologue. At the very least, I will read more from Margaret Millar.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that leads you along to think it's one kind of thing and then turns out to be another entirely, The Fiend has two married couples (unhappy), one divorced woman (unhappy), two brothers linked by more than blood (unhappy), two children (unhappy), and a male family lawyer (unhappy), all of whom orbit each other, contributing to each other's unhappiness, but who is the titular fiend? Is it Charlie, who may or may not be a pedophile? Or is it someone else? A complicated psychological thriller filled with the melodrama common to novels of the time.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in 1964, the mannerisms and attitudes seem more akin the the late 1950s. I liked reading the book, however. Ms. Millar writes in an appealing yet accessible literary way, and she explores the inner secrets (some dark and unsavory, yes) in the families well. None of the sexual or violent content rises above a PG-13 rating. Her metaphors are often so dead-on and aptly used.

[Darwin8u · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to put this book away for a bit. Emotionally it wrecks the reader. I can see how shocking this would have been at the time. It reminds me of the psychological horror later developed by Matt Bell and Brian Evenson (Open Curtain). Not a book I’d likely read again.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simplistic look at complicated human psychological problems with mostly simplistic viewpoints as the explanation. Human life is suffering and there is no easy solution. I blame the time period that this was written not the author.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such intense, vivid characters and excellent writing is so unusual in a mystery that I was taken aback. The little girls, the cheaters, the pedophile, his brother and the librarian. That is what the title would be if it were a french movie. The little girls and the pedophile: guileless but sinister. The adults: troubled. The librarian and the brother: devoted and deluded. The pedophile calls his crush a fiend, meaning friend, which is a funny reversal. While Charlie is supposed to be the predator of children, in a sense the real predators are the children, but then the children are also innocent victims, which is also true of Charlie.
What makes this novel so exceptional is that the characters are all loathsome yet likable or pitiable, humor shows up in the oddest places, the tension is tight and the plotting unpredictable. While the end seemed a little far-fetched to me, I was astounded overall.

[Sean Brennan]

The very title of the book is a GREAT red herring, but I won't dwell on the reasons for this statement to enjoys people's pleasure at some future date. This is a crafted psychological thriller dealing with the devastation that Divorce plays on all parties especially the children. It is my opinion that the majority of the supposedly 'adult' characters in the book needed intensive psychiatric care both before, during and after the events contained in this compelling thriller.

[Carla]

A second reading for this page-turner from this great mystery writer. Finely-tuned social satire, with extraordinarily vivid characters, and a plot that takes you to the last sentence. Millar is such a fine writer, and glad the Library of America included this one in its Crime Novels of the 1960s. .

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

And Millar strikes again! Seriously, you cannot get better for psychological suspense than Millar. OK. I'm going to just come out and say it: I have come to prefer Millar to Highsmith or Thompson. Yes! She is THAT good!

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the posted blurb intending to entice people into reading this classic crime novel from the 1960s:

"The young girl... the prison... the doctors... they were all part of the past. Charlie was free and getting well now -

So no one had to know how much time Charlie spent around the school yard, watching. No one did - until the night 9-year-old Jessie Brant disappeared..."

To be honest, this caused me to pause for a time...Did I really want to read what seemed to be a crime novel about a child molester?

But the puzzle was this: It was one of four novels from the 1960s packaged by the Library of America as among the greatest written in that decade, one of two book from LOA covering crime novels of the 1960s. My wife had already read the entire volume and loved it. So...

So I read it, and discovered a rather sad, suburban world of the '60s where it seemed that no one was really happy with their current state of affairs. No one, it seems, except for Charlie, to whom I had already been "introduced" because of the lead-in blurb.

Ms. Millar is clearly one of the most skilled writers I've yet come across; her ability to describe distinct and quite different characters, as well as to "paint" the domestic and work scenes of her characters, is frankly unsurpassed.

But what ultimately disappointed me was this: While several murky questions were raised in the novel -- Were some neighbors engaging in an affair? Was Charlie's big brother who was clearly looking out for him going to leave Charlie's life when Charlie became engaged in order to flee to create his own life? And what would this effect have on Charlie? And what about little, innocent Jessie, who does walk into the night and disappear? -- the ones that became central to me, namely, what the heck happened to Jessie and did Charlie "do" something, were NOT answered!

It was a lot like enjoying a sandwich while I was eating it because it was so darned good only to find that after I had finished it I was strangely hungry for substance.

So if you are undeterred by a book lacking in some crucial "wrap-up" questions AND especially if you enjoy watching a super writer do her thing, then dip into "The Fiend." Just be prepared to be left hanging as I was!

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 — this is quite good. Much better than Dorothy Hughes’ In A Lonely Place (which I just reread), and better than I remember *Beast in View*, which didn’t impress me all that much. So my view of Millar has now been much improved.

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book in the early 1980's, but some novels just don't stand the test of time.
Now I'll start reading "A Stranger in my Grave" which was my favorite Margaret Millar crime novel way back then.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to find more of her books 📚!!

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 4 out of 5]

review of
Margaret Millar's The Fiend
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 16-20, 2021

I was on a spree of reading Ross MacDonald novels. I'd read that he'd originally written under his given name, Kenneth Millar, but that he'd changed his name so as to not be in conflict/competition w/ his wife, also a crime fiction writer, Margaret Millar. That got me interested in reading something by her. This was the only thing I found by her at my favorite local used bookstore. I picked it as one of several bks to take w/ me on my vacation in September, 2021. Since my vacation was to start on Labor Day wknd I had a hard time finding anyplace I cd reserve. I finally picked a place that I thought was remote & facing Lake Erie w/ woods behind it. That turned out to be only almost the case: About 1,000 ft away was a playground. Ordinarily, that wdn't've mattered to me. As it was, I was there out-of-season so there were very few kids in evidence anyway. The thing that made it uncomfortable for me was that The Fiend is about a mentally ill guy who's been convicted of being a sexual psychopath who's obsessed w/ little girls & the novel starts off w/ him watching a little girl at a playground. That creeped me out & I cdn't bring myself to actually read this while I was on vacation. As such, I didn't finish it until the end of November instead.

The Fiend is on a par w/ some of Patricia Highsmith's work. Highsmith is accomplished at writing about the psychology of her characters in a way that really gets under my skin. Typically, one can see what's coming, be disturbed by it, & feel a sort of helplessness that one can do nothing about. Margaret Millar does much the same. While the main character, Charlie, doesn't, strictly speaking, commit any heinous crimes that the reader knows about, his whole mindset is almost insufferable. His obsession w/ little girls is such that it overides any small ability he has to be able to pay attn to much of anything else - including his loving fiancée. It's extremely exasperating to a person such as myself who keeps hoping he'll 'wake up' & become a less deranged adult, that he won't ruin his life & the life of the little girl(s) he becomes obsessed w/. Millar plays w/ this psychological tension beautifully.

The Fiend was originally written in 1964 but the edition I have is from 1983. Millar provides a new introduction:

"There is no fiend in this book, only Charlie, a good-looking, rather bewildered young man who suffers from an illness for which no cause or cure has been found. Charlie was treated for this illness, and was, according to the authorities who released him, rehabilitated. The term means, roughly, that he indicated remorse and promised not to repeat his offense. (It may also mean that the correctional facility is overcrowded and room must be made for newcomers.) Charlie's remorse and promise were sincere. They both are forgotten when he falls in love with a nine-year-old girl." - p -ii

The story of Charlie's previous conviction is only very gradually revealed. As such, the reader only knows that Charlie's obviously demented w/o knowing how far his dementia will take him.

"He knows he shouldn't be there. It was dangerous to be seen near such a place.

""—where children congregate. You understand that Gowen?"

""I think so, sir."

""Do you know what congregate means?"

""Well, not exactly."

""Don't give me that dumb act, Gowen, You spent two years at college."

""I was sick then. You don't retain things when you're sick."

""Then I'll spell it out for you. You are to stay away from any place frequented by children—parks, certain beach areas, Saturday afternoon movies, school playgrounds—"

"The conditions were impossible, of course. He couldn't turn and run in the opposite direction every time he saw a child. They were all over, everywhere, at any hour." - p 4

Charlie's just brimming over w/ 'good intentions' - or so he tells himself:

"Charlie wrote the name and address on the inside cover of a book of matches: Jessie, 319 Jacaranda Road. He wasn't sure yet what he intended to do with the information: it just seemed an important thing to have, like money in the bank. Perhaps he would find out Jessie's last name and write a letter to her parents, warning them. Dear Mr. and Mrs. X: I have never written an anonymous letter before, but I cannot stand by and watch your daughter take such risks with her delicate bones. Children must be cherished, guarded against the terrible hazards of life, fed good nourishing meals so their bones will be padded and will not break coming into contact with the hard cruel earth. In the name of God, I beg you to protect your little girl...." - p 12

But Charlie's so obsessed that he's myopically unaware of the world that he's interpolating himself into - Millar's depiction of this is deft - Charlie's oblivious to the soap opera of the adults, he doesn't even get what he's obsessed w/ right. I'm reminded of Philip K. Dick's straight novels, of the adult dysfunctionality.

""Listen, Virginia, I've wanted to say this before but I hated to cause trouble. Now that trouble's here anyway, I might as well speak my peace. You're getting too bound up with Jessie."" - p 22

But the typical drama of the adults isn't prepared for the special case of Charlie:

""In fact," Charlie said, "I can't even leave the county without special permission."

"Louise smiled, thinking it was a joke. "From whom?"

""From my parole officer."" - p 28

Louise, in love w/ her imagined Charlie is slow to catch on to his behavior & even allows herself to be implicated w/o understanding that that's what's happening:

""Louise, would you do me a small favor?"

""Consider it done."

""Would you look up an address in the city directory and tell me who lives there? It's 319 Jacaranda Road. You don't have to do it immediately. Just make a note of the name and give it to me tonight when you come over.""

""What's the mystery?"" - p 34

Now, of course, Charlie's just wiley enuf to not give an honest answer to that one.

"Mrs. Oakley leaned over to pick up the cat and it was then that she saw the old green coupé parked at the curb across the street. At noon when she'd unlatched the screen door to let the girls in, she'd seen it too, but this time she knew it couldn't be a coincidence. She knew who was behind the wheel, who was staring out through the closed dirty window and what was going on in his closed dirty mind." - p 36

But, no, she doesn't, she's deranged too, in a more common way, & everywhere she looks, just like here, she sees signs of her imagined menacing ex-husband.

"But this time she didn't even hear the jay. Her ears were still filled with her mother's voice: "He's got what he wanted, that fat old gin-swilling whore who treats him like little Jesus." The sentence bewildered her. Little Jesus was a baby in a manger and her father was a grown-up man with a mustache. She didn't know what a whore was, but she assumed, since her father was interested in birds, that it was an owl. Owls said, "Whoo," and were fat and lived to be quite old." - p 40

The naive innocence of the children is contrasted nicely w/ the out-of-control manias of the adults.

"He knew from experience what Ben's reaction would be. Playround? What were you doing at a playground, Charlie? How did you learn the child's name? And where she lives? And that her little bones are delicate? How did she fall, Charlie? Were you chasing her and was she running away? Why do you want to chase little girls, Charlie?

"Ben would misunderstand, misinterpret everything. It was better to feed him a lie he would swallow than a truth he would spit out.

"Charlie took off the windbreaker he always wore no matter what the weather and hung it on the clothes rack beside the front door." - p 48

The adult drama is excruciating just by virtue of being so real.

"The door opened and Virginia came out, clutching a long white silk robe around her. All of her skin that was visible was a fiery red and her eyes were blooshot. "I'm not feeling very well, Howard. I have a fever."

""You also have a visitor," Howard said in the same calm voice. "Jessie has come to return the book you gave her this afternoon. It seems her mother considered it too expensive a gift for her to accept. How much did it cost, Virginia?"

""Please, Howard. Not in front of the child. It's—"

""How much?"

""Twenty dollars."

""And where did you get the twenty dollars, Virginia?"

""From my—purse."

"Howard laughed." - p 54

All the adults are so miserable. The children are generally ok when they're not confused by the adult behavior. & why wd Louise fall in love w/ Charlie? Who knows? But it's realistic - think of all the women who wanted to marry Ted Bundy while he was in prison arrested as a serial killer.

""Nobody can explain what it is, what makes people fall in love with each other. Do you remember that first night when you were sitting in the library and I looked over and there you were with that book on architecture? I felt so strange, Charlie, as if the world had begun to move faster and I had to cling like mad to stay on it. It hasn't slowed down even for a minute, Charlie."

"He stared down at the floor, frowning, as if he were trying to see it move in space. "I don't like that idea. It makes me dizzy."

""I'm dizzy, too. So we're two dizzy people. What's the matter with that?"

""It's not scientific. Nobody can feel the world move."

""I can."" - p 65

Charlie, the airhead, chooses the one moment when Louise waxes romantic to be 'scientific'. He's too stupid to even realize what a wonderful thing her devotion to him might be. Louise isn't exactly all there either.

"She looked down at her blue dress. It was spotless, unwrinkled. It bore no sign that she had run out into the street after Charlie's car and been dragged under the wheels and lacerated; and Charlie, unaware that anything had happened, had driven on alone. He had seen nothing and felt little more. Maybe I felt a slight bump but I thought it was a hole in the road, I certainly didn't know it was you, Louise. What were you doing out on the road chasing cars like a dog? - p 66

Do dogs still do that?

So they get engaged. Louise shd've moved on after the 1st of many red flags & here she is, delighted:

""I don't want to wait even until Christmas. I think we should get married right away. Maybe the first week of September, if you can be ready by then."

""I've been ready for a year."

""But we just met a year ago."

""I know."

""You mean you fell in love with me right away, just looking at me, not knowing a thing about me? That's funny."

""Not to me. Oh, Charlie, I'm so happy."" - p 70

Meanwhile, this reader was writhing w/ the misery of it all, caught up in a fiction as if it were something happening to a friend. Then Charlie drops his anonymous bomshell, triggering more paranoia.

"The note was neatly printed in black ink:

"Your daughter takes too dangerous risks with her delicate body. Children must be guarded against the cruel hazards of life and fed good, nourishing food so their bones will be padded. Also clothing. You should put plenty of clothing on her, keep arms and legs covered, etc. In the name of God please take better care of your little girl." - p 73

But Charlie can't even get that right & sends it to the wrong parent. One thing leads to another & Charlie's car gets investigated:

""Yes, but meanwhile pass the license number around to the traffic boys. If they spot the car anywhere I'd like to hear about it, any time of the day or night. I have an answering service."

""What's that license again?"

""GVK, God's Very Kind, 640."" - p 97

Charlie's backstory continues to be revealed:

"Ben remembered the document word by word, though it had been years since he'd seen it:

"We are recommending the release of Charles Edward Gowen into the custody and care of his brother. We feel that Gowen has gained insight and control and is no longer a menace to himself or others. Further psychiatric treatment within the closed environment of a hospital seems futile at this time. Gainful employment, family affection and outside interests are now necessary if he is to become a useful and self-sufficient member of society." - p 104

In the meantime, Louise is still in the dark but knows that something's amiss:

"If I am to deal with this thing, if I am to hep Charlie deal with it, I must know what it is. I must know. . . .

"Charlie had never even mentioned children to her, he never looked at them passing on the street or watched them playing in the park. Yet somehow, somewhere, he had seen the girl, Mary Martha, and found where she lived. Louise remembered his excitement the previous night when he was talking about 319 Jacaranda Street and the little dog that chased cars. Well, there was no little dog; there was a child, Mary Martha." - p 105

In the other meantime, Mary Martha's mother, Kate, has been helped along into her total paranoia by Charlie's misdirected anonymous letter:

"["]I could scream for help at the top of my lungs and not a soul would hear me. I've got enough privacy to be murdered in. Sheridan knows that. He's probably dreamed about it a hundred times: wouldn't it be nice if someone came along and murdered Kate? He may even have made or be making plans of his own along that line, though I don't believe he'd have enough nerve to do it himself. He'd probably hire someone, the way he hired Gowen."" - p 132

Charlie continues w/ his demented fantasy obsession:

"His only reason would have seemed sinister to Louise and peculiar to Mr. Warner, but to Charlie himself it made sense: he had to find a little girl named Jessie to warn her not to play any more tricks on him because it was very naughty." - p 133

Of course, Jessie has no idea that Charlie exists & hasn't played any tricks on him. Charlie's obsessions are all rooted in his delusions. He IS aware that sooner or later he might have to face some consequences:

"He might even have to take a lie-detector test. If he were asked whether he knew Jessie Brant he would say no because this was the truth. But his heart would leap, his blood pressure would rise, his voice would choke up, he would start sweating, and all these things would be recorded on the chart and brand him as a liar." - p 153

& the adult drama never ceases its misery:

""Three days," Howard said bitterly, "I've been home three days and not for one minute have I felt welcome. I'm just a nuisance who appears every two or three weeks and disrupts your real life. The hell of it is I don't understand what your real life is, so I can't try to fit into it or go along with it. I can only fight it because it doesn't include me. I want, I need, a place in it. I used to have one. What went wrong, Virginia?"

"Dave and Ellen exhanged embarassed glances like two characters in a play who found themselves on stage at the wrong time. Then Ellen put some dishes on a tray and started toward the house and after a second's hesitation Dave followed her. Their leaving made no difference to the Arlingtons than their presence had." - p 160

Charlie continues to be even more deranged than everyone else:

""He's sitting out there on the top step of the porch making funny sounds. I think—I think he's crying. Oh God, Mac, so many crazy things have been happening lately. I feel I'm lost in the middle of a nightmare. Why should a strange man come up on my front porch to cry?"" - p 171

So, yeah, Jessie disappears & the police get involved in searching for her & the reader knows that Charlie was nearby stalking her when it happened but don't know whether he did it or not.

""I'd better get my mother's permission. She's kind of nervous this morning, I don't know why. But I have to be careful."

""She hasn't told you anything?"

""Just that Mac was coming over with a soldier and we were all going to have a chat."

""A soldier?"

""He's a lieutenant. I'm supposed to remember to call him that so I'll make a good impression."" - pp189-190

The misunderstandings of the children add to the overall misunderstandings of just about everyone. & Charlie continues to be feeble-minded:

""The grape and me, we're buddies. Got a cigarette and a light?"

""I don't smoke but I think I have some matches." Charlie rummaged in the pocket of his windbreaker and brought out a book of matches. On the outside cover an address was written: 319 Jacaranda Road. He recognized the handwriting as his own but he couldn't remember writing it or whose address it was or why it should make him afraid, afraid to speak, afraid to move except to crush the matches in his fist.

""Hey, what's the matter with you, chum?"" - p 232

Did Charlie do something to the little girl or not? I hope I haven't given away too much of the plot, much of it is a sort of foregone conclusion that the reader suffers through. Do I recommend this? It's well-written, it's a difficult subject - but if you're a person like myself who finds the general feeble-mindedness of humanity painful to try to get thru the obstacle course of then you might not really enjoy this reinforcment of your already depressing & cynical POV.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really disappointed by this one. I read an appreciation for this book and I was intrigued to read it but for me I had to ditch it a third of the way through. It's a slow build but too slow for me to keep reading, sadly.

[Jennifer Spriggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mystery!! What a surprise! When you get to the end you realize that it's not about what you thought it was about after all!!