Mischief

by Charlotte Armstrong

A child is left in the care of a disturbed babysitter in "surely one of the finest pure terror-suspense stories ever written" (The New York Times).

Bunny's parents shouldn't have brought her to New York City, but her father has an important speech to make, and her mother couldn't bear to be away from their darling nine-year-old daughter. And when her mommy and daddy leave for the speech, Bunny will stay in the hotel with a babysitter, sound asleep and perfectly safe. What could possibly go wrong?

The sitter is Nell, a plain young woman from Indiana. She puts Bunny to bed and amuses herself in the other room, making prank calls and trying on Bunny's mother's jewelry. So far, all is well. But Nell's dull expression conceals madness, and something is broken inside her mind . . .

From one of the greatest female crime writers of the mid-twentieth century, an Edgar Award winner and six-time finalist, Mischief is "a fine, chilly combination of horror and suspense" (The New Yorker).

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

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Full name Charlotte Armstrong Lewi. Wrote 29 novels, plus short stories and plays under the name Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine. Additional writing jobs: New York Times (advertising department), Breath of the Avenue (fashion reporter).

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A noir novella written by a woman, Mischief is a suspenseful story about an eight-year old, Bunny, who has been left with a psychopathic babysitter. Charlotte Armstrong is a writer from the 1950s that I've never heard of; nevertheless, this story is as good as any I've read or seen in a movie from the time period.

Bunny's parents are loving and responsible, but they have an important dinner engagement which they cannot miss and their sitter has called off at the last minute. They are in a New York hotel for the dinner and know no one in the city. Their friendly, hotel elevator-operator suggests his niece as a fix for their problem. They agree, but the mother, especially, is hesitant. The girl arrives and seems okay and they leave. Chaos soon follows.

[Ayz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine you and your other half have gotten a babysitter named Nell for your little baby girl so you can attend an important evening event for your spouse’s career. Everything is going well and you head out for the night; except you fail to notice something just under the surface…

The thing you fail to recognize in your hurry to make the event is that something is not quite right with this particular quiet babysitter, who can’t seem to be able to look you in the eyes at all.

And now…

She’s home alone with your child.

What follows in this vintage noir by Charlotte Armstrong is a masterclass in hitchcockian suspense and tension, which will likely make you put down the book at times just to take a calming walk around your room before returning to the suspense of the story.

Big recommend.

[Carla Remy · Rating 5 out of 5]

About a psychotic baby sitter. There is more too, this is a remarkable book........ There was a film of it, with a young Marilyn Monroe as the bad babysitter. I think it was called Don't Bother to Knock. It has its points, but the novel is better.

12/2015
From 1950
Remarkably good. No crime, no death, but so much suspense.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte Armstrong's "Mischief"

Charlotte Armstrong's short novel "Mischief" (1950) is the first of four novels in a newly-released Library of America volume, "Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s." The volume is the second of a two-volume box set with the first book consisting of four novels by women crime writers of the 1940s. I am enjoying working through the contents of the box set which the LOA has kindly provided to me for review. Sarah Weinman selected and edited the contents of the LOA volumes.

Armstrong's novel is best-known for the 1952 film version directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Marilyn Monroe in what was billed as the first film attempt to show that she could act. The film also featured Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft in her first film role.

Armstrong's novel tells the story of a couple from a small town who make a brief trip to New York City with their nine year old daughter, Bunny. Peter Jones is the editor of a small newspaper and is to give the keynote speech at a banquet accompanied by his wife, Ruth. When the couple's babysitter falls through at the last minute, the hotel elevator operator arranges for his niece, Nell, to babysit. Nell has recently arrived in New York from the Midwest under strange circumstances and apparently is looking to establish herself. When the Jones' leave for their banquet, an evening of mayhem breaks out. Nell quickly reveals herself as mentally deranged and dangerous to the child and to others. The parents and several other guests of the hotel become aware of the situation and take desperate steps try to save the child.

The novel moves between suspense and satire in its depiction of characters and places. Together with the suspense, the novel explores how people in a large city remain strangers and isolated from one another. The book shows how people don't want to become involved with anyone from a beggar on the street to a child in distress in a hotel room. The book speaks of the need for community and for apparently isolated individuals to show concern for others. Several of the characters learn this lesson during the ordeal described in the book. Peter Jones, the child's father, reflects:

"We are strangers. Whom do we know? One -- if you're lucky. Not many more. Looks like we've got to learn how we can trust each other. How we can tell.... How we can dare.... Everything rests on trust between strangers. Everything else is a house of cards."

Although a minor, little-read novel, "Mischief" shows the varied themes of crime fiction written by women and stresses the still contemporary themes of community and responsibility. The book also introduces the reader to the author, Charlotte Armstrong, who receives a short biographical note at the end of the LOA volume. Armstrong (1905 -- 1969) wrote plays produced on Broadway in the late 1930s and early 1940s before turning to suspense fiction. She became a prolific novelist and also wrote screenplays for Alfred Hitchcock's television series, including "Sybilla", a haunting story of a faithful, mistreated wife which has stayed with me for many years. Armstrong's "A Dram of Poison" received the 1956 Edgar Award for best suspense novel.

"Mischief" was a good opening selection for the LOA volume of women crime writers of the 1950s. I am looking forward to working through the rest of the book.

Robin Friedman

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

When their sitter backs out at the last minute, a couple hires the niece of the hotel operator for the evening. They were going to attend an important dinner where the husband was to be the speaker and guest of honor. The wife felt uneasy about leaving their nine-year-old daughter with the sitter who seemed a bit strange. However, she felt that she should be with her husband while he was being honored. By the end of the evening, the wife wished she had followed her maternal instincts.

The book was written in 1950 so it seems rather dated and "cutsie" in the beginning. A visitor comes to the hotel room later, the abnormal actions of the sitter are seen through his eyes, and the suspense builds. The movie "Don't Bother to Knock", starring Marilyn Monroe as the sitter, was based on this book. A modern mystery/thriller might have been more intense, but it was interesting to read a classic for a change of pace.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oct 2, 730pm ~~ Review asap.

Oct 5, 2pm ~~ Mr. and Mrs. Peter O. Jones and their nine year old daughter Bunny have come to New York City for a banquet where Peter is to give the main speech. HIs sister had agreed to stay with Bunny while Mom and Dad were at their shindig, but at the last minute she could not make it.

Whatever will they do? Well, Mr. Peter O. Jones is resourceful, and he knows that in a big hotel there are plenty of people who might be able to help. He speaks with the elevator man who suggests that his niece could come and sit with Bunny. Problem solved!

Oh, really? Sweet innocent reader, don't fall into the same trap Peter O. Jones did! Now Ruth O. Jones had a feeling about this babysitter Nell. Nothing specific, just a feeling. But even though she thought about not going to the shindig, she did not want to miss her husband's big moment. So she convinced herself everything would be fine. But still, she had a feeling.....

This 1950 book moves fast and normally I would have read it probably in one sitting. But this was my first choice in the second group of titles for the Zapata Reading Club, so I had a major test of my new ability to ignore a book-in-progress on the days I did not read aloud to Marco. But I survived.

Did Bunny?

Bit of info about this book: it was made into a movie in 1952, titled Don't Bother To Knock. It was intended to prove that a certain young actress could handle a dramatic role after a string of eighteen comedies. I've seen the movie and I think that this actress brought Nell to life just as Armstrong intended her to be.

And who was this talented young lady?

Marilyn Monroe.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armstrong specialized in Domestic Suspense stories in the 1950s and achieved some success with A Dram of Poison which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1956. This earlier work about a malicious babysitter is slow to start and has some annoying stylistic quirks but brings everything together for an exciting conclusion. The story was eventually filmed as the Marilyn Monroe movie Don’t Bother to Knock.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book was right up my street!

I love the style of writing, the psychological insights, the tension and the setting. It manages to capture 1950's glamour alongside a sinister undertone that swells throughout the story.

It's quirky, short and has so many elements that I love. I am increasingly enjoying having a historical element in my reading and I found this one refreshingly old fashioned.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonight is the night, the big event. As Charlotte Armstrong’s Mischief begins, Peter O. Jones, small-town newspaper editor, and his wife Ruth have come to New York City so that Peter can accept an award. They are nervous but excited about the glamorous evening stretching out before them. There’s just one problem. Peter’s sister, who was scheduled to babysit the couple’s nine-year-old daughter Bunny, has cancelled. The couple has been forced at the last minute to hire the niece of the hotel elevator man to sit with their daughter—a stranger.

From a mother’s perspective, there could hardly be a more perfect setup for nail-biting crime fiction—in 1950 or in 2015—as there is in Mischief...

Read my full appreciation for this amazing story in the Library of America publication Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s: Mischief / The Blunderer / Beast in View / Fools' Gold or online at http://womencrime.loa.org/?page_id=93

[Mike Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was good! It's a tightly focused, tense, suspenseful, unpredictable tale of a single evening of threat to a nine-year-old girl from an unstable and sometimes violent babysitter.

The first couple of chapters, which set up the situation, felt a little slow, partly because the description of the happy family seemed a little saccharine to my jaded eyes and partly because I had to adjust to a 1950s white middle-class American version of what constituted a happily married couple. Once the babysitter was in play, everything changed. I became completely absorbed in the action and was on the edge of my seat until the end.

The story takes place in a downtown hotel on a night when an out-of-town couple are attending a formal dinner at which the husband is the main speaker. The couple have booked two connecting rooms, one for themselves and one for Bunny, their nine-year-old daughter. They've arranged for Bunny's aunt to come to the hotel and sit with her until they get back. The aunt cancels at the last minute and, desperate to get to the dinner, the husband hires Nell Munro, the nineteen-year-old niece of the garrulous but deferential guy running the elevator, as a babysitter. The mother thinks the girl is a little odd but puts it down to shyness. The couple leave and the psychotic nature of the babysitter starts to emerge.

It starts when Nell catches the attention of a man in the room opposite hers and invites him over for a drink. His name is Jed Towers. It's his last night in town. He's just returned to his room after an argument with his girlfriend. He's angry and, when he sees Nell in the window opposite his, thinks he's found a way to rescue the evening.

What happens next lived up to the title Mischief, or at least what that word originally meant: playful malice resulting in misery. Charlotte Armstrong has created a truly chaotic and threatening situation where any sense of control or normality is a delusion. You know bad things are going to happen but you don't know what or when. What makes this more threatening is that there is no rational motive behind these actions, making them unpredictable and sinister.

I liked that the agent of this chaos comes not from the large angry man but from a small woman with strong urges and no concept of consequences. Nell isn't evil. She's more like a force of nature: like an avalanche or a flood or a lightning bolt.

For the most part, I didn't like Jed Towers. But then, he didn't like himself much either. He's angry and bitter and tends to let his temper get the better of him, but Armstrong didn't write him off. She gave him a brain and a conscience (even if he kept the latter locked away most of the time because he saw it as a weakness). Towers eventually realises that something is off about Nell. He sees her as living entirely in the present tense. I liked the way he thought through the implications of that:

"It crossed the level of his mind where slang was not the language that there is something wild about total immersion in the present tense. What if the restraint of the future didn’t exist? What if you never said to yourself, “I’d better not. I’ll be in trouble if I do”? You’d be wild, all right. Capricious, unpredictable . . . absolutely wild."

Armstrong structured the chapters of the story so that we see the actions from multiple points of view: Jed Towers who is slowly becoming aware that he's gotten himself into trouble and should leave but who can't bring himself to abandon the little girl, Jed's girlfriend who has come to the hotel to try and rescue their relationship, the timid but concerned librarian from the room opposite Bunny's who knows something bad is happening to the little girl and Bunny's mother, who, when she should be basking in the reflected glory of her husband's well-received speech and f, is growing increasingly anxious about her daughter. Thankfully, we never get inside Nell's head. Seeing her from the outside was disturbing enough.

Armstrong maintains the tension in the story by switching between points of view at key moments, leaving each line of action in suspense while letting the reader see that the lines of action are going to converge and that the result is likely to be a dramatic and probably violent collision.

I had a lot of fun with this book. I felt as if I'd found a new Hitchcock movie to watch. One made more exciting because I didn't know how it would end. When I finished it, I felt exhilarated. It was a tense, perfectly paced story that was exciting and unpredictable and yet still thoughtful.

I want to read more of Charlotte Armstrong's novels. I've already downloaded A Dram Of Poison. which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel (1957).

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte Armstrong is new to me, and if this is anything to go by, I am looking forward to reading much more from her.
In the 1940s she progressed from writing conventional whodunnits to more complex suspense stories, which we know refer to as noirs. These immediately brought her to recognition, in 1947 her novel The Unsuspected was adapted as a Hollywood film. Subsequent books, up until her final book in 1968, were nominated for the Edgar for Best Novel.

Ruth and Peter Jones are from the small rural town of Brennerton, where Peter is the editor of the local newspaper. They are in New York City for Peter to make a presentation at conference of pressmen. When the babysitter for their 9 year old daughter Bunny cancels at the last minute, the hotel’s friendly elevator operator, Eddie, suggests his niece, Nell, for the job. They accept, though this turns out to be a very bad idea.

Her ‘mischief’ is initially low-key, exiling Bunny to her bedroom, while she tries on Ruth’s clothes and uses her make-up. She spies a handsome stranger out of the window and invites him up for a nightcap.
The unsuspecting Jed Towers accepts. He is straight out of a row with his girl-friend, and soon immersed in booze and canoodling with a girl who is much younger than he thought, and whose sanity he soon begins to doubt.
The situation worsens rapidly, from weird to deranged to the downright terrifying.

Armstrong’s timing is to perfection. Her characters are completely convincing, and the success of the book in many ways, is in watching how they each deal with the situation by which they are confronted.

Behind the characters is the hotel itself, which plays a key part, and whose image is, almost from the start, clearly imprinted in the reader’s mind.

Of most interest, is the character of Nell herself. We are introduced to her as a seemingly innocent, quiet 18 year old girl. Gradually our opinion of her changes. More than simply a maniac who terrorises a young girl and her family, and imperils the life of a passing stranger, she represents the fears within those around her; she is only concerned with herself, unable to connect her actions to any sort of consequence, with a disastrous outcome.
A comparison to Highsmith and Millar is not out of place, certainly from the evidence of this.

Published in 1951, the book was adapted as a film (Don’t Bother To Knock) the year after, with Marilyn Monroe, in one of her first roles, as Nell.

One reviewer at the time remarked, “Mischief will do for babysitters what Psycho did for showers.”

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fortunately Mischief is a short book (novella length) as the tension soon becomes unbearable. Intricately plotted and detailed, every character has a backstory that adds to the suspense. And the babysitter at the heart of it is all too real. A very Fifties story, which only adds to the interest. If Mischief seems familiar, you may have seen Don't Bother to Knock (1952), the film version with Marilyn Monroe (which is now on my re-watch list). I'm curious to read more by Charlotte Armstrong.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was the basis of Don't Bother to Knock, the 1952 movie about a disturbed child-minder, set during one night at a hotel. It's a good read and I enjoyed comparing the two versions, but I would say the novel is even darker. Trivia fans: Nell Forbes, the character so memorably played by Marilyn Monroe in the movie, was originally Nell Munro.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is simple. Middle class parents visit New York on business with their nine year old much loved child in tow. The babysitter lets them down and an ineffectual and not very bright hotel employee offers his niece in their place to help try to get her back into employment and the world.

The trouble is that the niece is a full-on small town psychopath. The story unfolds as her behaviour draws ever more people into her web with the safety of the child the lurking terror at the heart of the story - all largely played out in two adjoining hotel rooms and the small territory around them.

The story is Hitchcockian. The writing cinematic. We can watch it in our heads as a fast-moving film noir, choreographed for maximum tension and emotional involvement. A filmmaker could make it almost line for line within the black and white mood at the end of the 1940s.

The interior lives of the characters might be taken as instructions given to actors by a director. The sets are delineated clearly so that we tread in the steps of each character in turn. The exits and entrances and passings of characters are those of the true dramatist.

What really makes the slim work great is the sensitivity of Armstrong to her characters, each of whom, all very slightly weak in a very human way, reacts as we would expect them to react yet those reactions create the potential for a very real tragedy - the possibility of a child's death.

The book is a test for empathy. We are forced into a 'cringing' state where we ask ourselves whether we would do better than any of the characters in the novel under the same circumstances. We hope so but we hope more that we never find ourselves in such a situation.

If it is about anything, the novel is about the darkness that can lurk within a society that relies on trust to hold itself in place and how those who live within this general assumption of trust can be betrayed by momentary weakness and how the weak and the good are self-policed by guilt.

In the end, the psychopath, a rather simple creature to understand, is less interesting than are the ordinary folk with the right feelings but inadequate information and a tendency to assume that interference should be limited or controlled by self interest, rules, propriety or good manners.

In fact, American society works very well to solve a problem in Armstrong's reading of events but it is a close run thing and requires something primal in the girl's mother that shunts aside the 'civilised' to tip the balance.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brief novel (only 135 pages, unheard of today) is one of those packaged in a wonderful two-volume collection of “Women Crime Writers from the 1940s and 1950s” issued in recent years by the wonderful Library of America.

I had never heard of the author before, but I did find myself intrigued from the opening pages.

That said, this is one of the oddest — yet gripping — “crime novels” I have ever read.

For one thing, there really is no crime — creepy behavior, yes, and the constant threat of “something bad” happening — and to a child at that — yet there is no murder, although there is some superficial slashing up, and no innocent is harmed.

The other odd thing about this book — which I did find a compelling read, by the way — is that it reminded me of a theatre-in-the-round experience where the audience surrounds the stage and in which the “action” all takes place basically in the same setting.

In this case it is in the adjoining hotel rooms, maybe more like suites, in a classy hotel in New York. The husband has been invited to give a much heralded speech, which we get the idea should he succeed it will do wonders for his career. However, we learn nothing either about the content of his speech nor of his career!

The loyal wife — this is the ‘50s, after all — naturally wants to come to her husband to bask in the glow of the favorable reception he hopes to receive and, therefore, must find a babysitter for their young daughter, who sounds like she might be somewhere between 4 and 6.

Unfortunately for them, the family member the had hoped would do the deed is less than interested, and with other plans. So one of the elevator operators, who has overheard them speaking about their dilemma, offers to have his niece step in for the evening.

Hmmm, what would YOU have said at this point?

The parents, caught without a viable alternative, reluctantly accept. The young girl — age not stated, but clearly as the story unwinds a VERY willful teenager who “might be” at the age of consent — seems to be OK, if markedly uncommunicative.

So, it’s off to the speech and we are left claustrophobically alone with the teenager and her infant charge. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, her true nature quickly emerges and she is definitely NOT a demure, polite, or decorous young thing. She soon notices in an adjoining tower of the hotel a handsome young man in his own hotel room where he is still in his evening clothes after having experienced a bad date. Why not signal him to come over?

Which she does. And when he arrives he is temporarily charmed and totally convinced that he can easily manage the situation.

Wrong!

Well, to say anymore would spoil reading the book. But the rest of the novel unfolds within these tight confines and I found myself holding my breathe as to the ultimate fate of the little one.

I suspect that you will, too!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thrilling little vignette, Armstrong delicately balances the warm charm of a family evening with the spine-tingling oddness of the strange girl that replaces their babysitter at the last minute.

The atmosphere is all strain and tension: don't leave the kid with her, don't assume everything is fine, don't let that woman see you through the window, don't go into that room. Half a dozen characters move through the space, their personalities sketched with broad colourful strokes (Uncle Eddie is nervous and disappointed, Jed is twitchy and quick to anger, Ruth is worried and unable to concentrate, Nell is just off, somehow).

There's mastery in the way Armstrong leads the reader towards the worst fears, then leaves them sitting there while the characters catch up. There are a couple of moments where you're absolutely certain something awful has happened, and the wait between paragraphs is excruciating.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel about a BAD BABYSITTER, takes place in a HOTEL, over the course of ONE CRAZY NIGHT — all the best sub-genres rolled into one of the best genres of all: mid-century noir. Oh, and it’s beautifully written. And it’s really saying something about the human condition — about strangers, and what we owe one other. And there’s even a movie adaptation starring Marilyn Monroe that I am going to watch immediately.

It’s all a bit too good to be true. Now, if only it were STILL IN PRINT, yeesh.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at a street bookseller with fond memories of Armstrong's A Dram of Poison. Alas, Mischief is too transparently formulaic from the start. I actually skimmed the whole thing, which I rarely do, and felt as if I had comprehended most of the story. Armstrong was just going through the paces with this one.

[Carrie Dalby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, interesting read. Sociology/psychology type of "horror", but light by today's standards.

[VickiLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps because this novel was published in 1950, it had an outlandish feel to it. The behaviour and conversations between the men and women reveals how much things have changed over the past decades.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones are away from home and staying in a lovely hotel. Mr. jones is giving an important speech. They have brought their nine-year-old daughter with them. At last moment, the babysitter backs out. The man who runs the elevator suggests his niece and that is when the trouble starts. We know from the first time we meet her that she is not your average young woman and things progress from bad to worse.

I have been dipping into some classic mysteries not only for fun, but to also take a peek at how the early mysteries were constructed. They also give me a break from the familiar plots being offered on book shelves right now.

I discovered Marilyn Munroe played the role of the babysitter in a film called “Don’t Bother To Knock” (based on this book) so I watched clips on YouTube. Fascinating.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars A great little story. This is every parents nightmare when leaving their precious little one(s) with a babysitter they don't know well enough. The Jones' are in town for a very special occasion, and have brought their 9 year old daughter with them. She is not old enough to go and they thought they had the aunt ready to babysit for them. Unfortunately the aunt backs out at the last minute and that is what sends the ball into motion for the nightmare to begin.
I liked the authors way of getting into each of the characters heads. this was a quick and enjoyable read for a change of pace.

[Mark Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tale of a psychopathic babysitter had me on edge from early on right through the end of its relatively short length. It's a tight suspense drama that makes the reader feel uncomfortable from the very beginning through its fairly predicable end. Midwestern parents hire an unknown babysitter to care for their nine-year old daughter while they attend a gala event in New York City in the 1950s and pretty much every parent's nightmare ensues. It's frightening and the reader just wants things to turn out alright in the end. Very suspenseful, but I didn't much enjoy spending time inside the head of one of the main characters.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting (and short!) It reads like a TV episode... (I have never heard of the movie with an interestingly cast Marilyn Monroe.)
The suspense is well generated out of a domestic fear... Characters though quite two dimensional are well deployed. Jed grows well through the book, starting as a shiftless bored guy looking for fun, actually standing up for something.
Is Nell damaged, or just crazy? I can't say.
I like the way that it opens up in almost real time. There are no pauses at all.
There is also some sharp social observations too.
The weak spot is the too cute opening, which heaps the sugar on too thickly & almost had me not bother...If I had been sleepy, I may not have got beyond the first few pages & that would be a shame.
It's comparable to Megan Abbott's earlier & more modern 'period' thrillers.
In the light of what I wrote about Fools Gold, I feel that I was harsh to this & so the 4th star.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Charlotte Armstrong novel, I decided on reading this after watching Marilyn Monroe and Richard Widmark in the 1952 movie, "Don Bother to Knock", I wanted to compare the two, which is in my spoiler below. " Mischief" is a thrilling story that had I not seen the movie, I would have been surprised as I read on. Nell is the same yet so different when comparing the movie and book. One thing I noticed is many of the main characters, their thoughts are told to the reader but those of Nell's are absent, we only know what she says. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Story in short- A couple comes to the city and bring their young daughter with them but a babysitter is needed.


"Eddie Munro stopped for a light at the eighth floor. A young man got on, turned at once to face the door. They sank downward in silence."

"His name was Jed Towers. It was his last night in New York. He had a dinner date."

"Eddie said, “Take your coat off, Nell. Go ahead.” The girl wore a neat dark silk dress. She held the coat on her arm as if she didn’t know what to do with it. “Just put it here, won’t you?” purred Ruth. “And your bag, too? I suppose you’ve sat with children before, Nell?” “She did, back in Indiana,” said Eddie. “Did it a lot. Not around here, so much. She only came east about six months ago.” “Is that so?” “She’s living with me and my wife, now. My brother’s girl ...” “And do you like it here, Nell?” “She likes it fine,” said Eddie. “We’ve got room in the apartment, plenty of room for her. My wife’s real glad to have her.” Is the girl mute? Ruth wondered. Eddie’s interposing chatter was nervous, as if it covered something lumpish and obstinate in the girl, who was not helping. As one ought to chatter, and push time past this kind of stoppage in its current."

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌

The main difference in the movie and story, in the movie Nell seems innocent in her insanity whereas in the book, it seems she has pleasure in harming others and seems to know that she can get away with things and given a pass. In the movie she is distressed by a boyfriend dying in the war and thinking Jed was him. She tries to kill herself and Jed stops her. In the story she has supposedly was sleep walking and set fire to her home killing her parents. She wanted Bunny to be quiet so she ties her up and gags her, in the movie she does this but is not actively trying to kill her. The fight between the mother and her is non existent in the movie but the book she is full fledged, Jed comes in and stops it. The police shoot him in the arm in the book. When Nell hears from the old lady that Bunny can confirm her account of the man who supposedly attacked Nell, Nell decides to kill Bunny. In the book the mother comes back early without the husband because she was worried, mother's instinct. Jed was more of a selfish person, he left Bunny bound and gagged to save himself, but he finally realised he was wrong and needed to make sure Bunny was safe. In the movie the couple came that heard a lot of commotion but in the book an older retired school teacher. I think the reason we don't hear Nell's thoughts is that is the mystery of her being insane or not.

"She shook at her thoughts. She knew what Peter wanted. By her will, she pulled herself together. (Bunny was nine. Bunny would sleep.) She drew the tardy part of herself in toward her body until she was all there, standing by the elevators, dressed to the eyes. She looked up at Peter and showed him she was whole. Jed Towers picked up his date at her family’s apartment on East Thirty-sixth Street. Her name was Lyn Lesley and she was more than just a date. She had achieved a certain ascendancy on Jed’s list. In fact, she was right up there on top."

“No.” She pushed her glass to and fro on the cloth and she smiled. “But you do expect the worst of people, don’t you, Jed? I’ve ... noticed.” “Certainly,” he grinned. “You damn well better, as far as I can see.” He offered her his certainty with careless cheer."

“You don’t believe ...” she began and her lips were trembling. “Don’t believe!” he scoffed. “Listen—aw, you baby! What I believe or what you believe makes no particular difference to the way things are. Lyn, honey, sooner or later you get to know that. All the difference it makes is whether you’re comfortable or not. Well, it just happens I don’t like to be fooled and I’ve got to the point where I don’t even enjoy fooling myself.” She flicked her lashes. “This,” he said soberly, “is a pretty stinking lousy world.” “Is it?” said Lyn." He was annoyed. “If you haven’t noticed that you’re unintelligent,” he said crisply. “And what do you do about it?” “Mind your own business. Take care of yourself, because you can be damn sure nobody else will. Lyn, for the love of Mike, let it go, will you? Anybody thinks he can save the world isn’t weaned yet. You’re old enough to know that much.” “If everybody figured the way to do ...” she began, looking unhappy. “You like the boy- scout type?” he challenged. “The sunshine kids?”

"She picked up the phone with her right hand, asked sweetly for the number. “Yes?” A man’s voice came out of the city, somewhere, hooked and caught at the end of the wire. “Guess who?” Nell said in a soft high soprano. “Margaret, where are—” “Oh-ho no! Not Margaret!” “Who is this?” said the voice irritably. “I’m not in the mood—” “By the way, who is Margaret? Hmmmmmmmm?”“Margaret is my wife,” said the voice stiffly. “What’s the idea?” “Ha!” “Who is this?” “Virginia,” crooned Nell. “Don’t you remember me?” “I think you have the wrong number,” the voice said, sounding very old and tired, and he hung up. Nell sucked her cheeks in, turned pages, gave another number. “Hello?” A woman this time. “Hello. Oh, hello. Is Mr. Bennet there?“No, he’s not. I’m sorry.” Brightly, “This is Mrs. Bennet.” “Oh,” said Nell without alarm. With nothing. Flatly. Her head tilted, listening. “Can I take a message?” the woman said, somewhat less cordially. “Oh, dear,” simpered Nell. “You see, this is Mr. Bennet’s secretary ...” “Mr. Bennet has no secretary that I know of.” “Oh,” said Nell. “Oh dear me! Are you sure?” “Who is this?” The voice began to sound as if the face were red. “Just a friend. You know?” “Will you give me your name, please?” “Why, no,” said Nell flatly and then she giggled. The phone slammed shut at the other end. On Nell’s face danced a look of delighted malice. She stretched. She called the girl downstairs again. “Long distance.” “One moment, please.”

Peter O Jones and his wife are staying at a hotel with their 9 year old daughter Bunny. Peter is to give a speech tonight and his sister was going to babysit Bunny but she had to cancel. Peter was able to find another sitter. Eddie Munro has been the elevator operator for over 14 years and his 19 yearold niece, Nell is to sit with Bunny. Nell's parents are dead and she has been living with the Munros for six months. There seems to be something off that makes Ruth O Jones nervous but feeling it is okay though Eddie seems nervous. After they leave Bunny soon goes to bed in the adjoining room, Nell starts to look over the things in the other room leaving things in disarray. Jed Towers is staying at the hotel and this being his last night hopes to have a special dinner with his girl, Lyn which does not go well because she sees his attitude of life is really hard. They have a disagreement about him not believing a man begging on the streets. Nell makes crank calls to men and women suggesting she is calling a lover.

[Nattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story seemed so familiar to me, but then I realized that I'd seen the Marilyn Monroe movie.

I found most of the characters to be annoying, but still enjoyed the book for the most part. I did not care for the one-time use of the "N-Word" because I didn't think it was necessary.

I didn't appreciate Eddie recommending Nell as a babysitter. He should have known better.

Obviously I couldn't stand Nell.

Bunny should have been 3 instead of 9. With the way she was treated you would have thought she was a toddler. I get that this was the 1950's and kids acted differently than they do now, but Bunny's age really didn't add up. You would have never guessed that Bunny would be a teenager in likely just 3 1/2 years.

The synopsis on the back of the book was confusing. It says something happens that doesn't, so I was expecting it because I didn't remember not to expect it, because I'd forgotten I'd seen the movie.

I've read one other Charlotte Armstrong book, and I'm not quite sure I like the way she writes her dialogue.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d never heard of Charlotte Armstrong until someone recommended to me the Library of America women crime writers collection that this novel features in. Given the quality of this book, the number of books that Armstrong published, and the fact that many of them are available on Kindle Unlimited, I’m very glad to have made her acquaintance.
‘Mischief’ is a short, tight suspense novel about a troubled babysitter, her unfortunate charge and the people around them. It’s set over the course of a single evening and the pace spot on, with an air of menace throughout that makes you believe that anything could happen. What really stands out though is the believability of the characters and the skill with which they are drawn. The central family and their interactions with each other are beautifully done, but all the characters ring true. I liked it so much I’ve dived straight into another of Armstrong’s books, her Edgar award winner ‘A Dram of Poison’.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte Armstrong's Mischief succeeded in a suspense novel's most basic task: It kept surprising me. Especially for the first half of the book, I really couldn't guess what was coming next. Mischief is included as the first book in volume two of Library of America's Women Crime Writers collection. While the novel is fairly lightweight and perhaps doesn't warrant that sort of canonization, it is nevertheless a quick, enjoyable read.

[Jennifer Kepesh]

Fascinating to read stories from another era, especially those that rely on unquestioned or just-beginning-to-be stereotypes of the time. In this book, the take on sociopathy is that it is as unpredictably dangerous as it is in "The Bad Seed," a play/movie of the time.

[Sue Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just loved this refreshingly good writing. The author just nails her characters to a tee! Looking forward to finding some more hidden gems from this era.
Just reread this 4 years on and it still holds up as a gripping suspense novel.