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Hide in the Dark
At a manor in Maryland, thirteen guests gather to celebrate Halloween--but before the party is over, only twelve are left alive . . .
Halloween night, 1928. It has been years since a group of friends, all of them witty, well-dressed, and wealthy, have gathered at the house known as Lady Court--and since one of their own died tragically young. But despite the haunting memory of poor Sylvia and the secrets still lurking among them, the old friends' appear to be in high spirits. Amid the laughter, they play holiday-themed games, one of which requires the lights to be turned off. It is during this brief darkness that one of their party is murdered.
Now, as a storm rages and knocks the telephone line out, the atmosphere of fun and flirtation turns to fear, and the rest of the night will be spent trying to unmask a killer . . .
"Hart . . . has inlaid her mystery with a filigree of wit and romance." --Time
Halloween night, 1928. It has been years since a group of friends, all of them witty, well-dressed, and wealthy, have gathered at the house known as Lady Court--and since one of their own died tragically young. But despite the haunting memory of poor Sylvia and the secrets still lurking among them, the old friends' appear to be in high spirits. Amid the laughter, they play holiday-themed games, one of which requires the lights to be turned off. It is during this brief darkness that one of their party is murdered.
Now, as a storm rages and knocks the telephone line out, the atmosphere of fun and flirtation turns to fear, and the rest of the night will be spent trying to unmask a killer . . .
"Hart . . . has inlaid her mystery with a filigree of wit and romance." --Time
317 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1929
11 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Frances Noyes Hart
7 books6 followersFrances Newbold Noyes Hart (August 1890 – October 25, 1943) was an American writer whose short stories were published in Scribner's magazine, the Saturday Evening Post, the Ladies' Home Journal.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 13, 2021
Well that was unpleasant. None of them are very likable, and they're terrible friends. Unsatisfactory conclusion, too.
Content warning:
Lots of offensive and offensively used terms thrown around in this one: darky/darkies, slaves, Semites, gypsy/gypsies, coloured, Massa, Negroes, n*gger, slaves, blackamoors, Indians.
Content warning:
Lots of offensive and offensively used terms thrown around in this one: darky/darkies, slaves, Semites, gypsy/gypsies, coloured, Massa, Negroes, n*gger, slaves, blackamoors, Indians.
June 2, 2019
Suspenseful, with plenty of atmosphere and undercurrents.
January 2, 2023
Early Bird Book Deal | Mixed Feelings | More than the usual racism and anti-Semitism for the time period, mostly racism, with quite a few uses of the n-word and other slurs.
Right at the start, all the characters are introduced three times. First through a list of dramatis personae with brief descriptions, then one character introduces and explains all of them to the new member of the group, and finally they all have a drink and the author says 'now that they're busy, let's get to know them' and goes through them all again. And still by the end of the book they were mostly indistinguishable from each other. It doesn't help that every one of them has a nickname, they are called alternatingly by real name and nickname, and that two of the nicknames are commonly names for a different gender than the person they apply to. The murder happens past the halfway point, and by then I was so ready for the victim to die that I was ready to do it myself. The three men who seem to be good people get practically zero page space, and all the women are defined exclusively through their desperate adoration of their men. Through much of the book there's a ten-year-old question running, that has caused misery in several quarters: who was the man who abandoned Sunny so that she died by suicide? Suddenly, at the end, it's a given that we know who he was, though nobody has actually gotten any kind of proof or confession, just that two were ruled out and the guilty party was the one who lied about it in the first place. But so much was wrapped up in this mystery that for it to be dropped as unimportant was off-putting. All that said, I did read the thing in a sitting, and I thought the final recreation/confession situation was well written (somewhat reminiscent of the end of the movie Clue, without the farce). Probably 2.5 if you can grit your teeth against the continuous references to "darkies", sexism, and the sheer gall of the wealthy attitude.
Right at the start, all the characters are introduced three times. First through a list of dramatis personae with brief descriptions, then one character introduces and explains all of them to the new member of the group, and finally they all have a drink and the author says 'now that they're busy, let's get to know them' and goes through them all again. And still by the end of the book they were mostly indistinguishable from each other. It doesn't help that every one of them has a nickname, they are called alternatingly by real name and nickname, and that two of the nicknames are commonly names for a different gender than the person they apply to. The murder happens past the halfway point, and by then I was so ready for the victim to die that I was ready to do it myself. The three men who seem to be good people get practically zero page space, and all the women are defined exclusively through their desperate adoration of their men. Through much of the book there's a ten-year-old question running, that has caused misery in several quarters: who was the man who abandoned Sunny so that she died by suicide? Suddenly, at the end, it's a given that we know who he was, though nobody has actually gotten any kind of proof or confession, just that two were ruled out and the guilty party was the one who lied about it in the first place. But so much was wrapped up in this mystery that for it to be dropped as unimportant was off-putting. All that said, I did read the thing in a sitting, and I thought the final recreation/confession situation was well written (somewhat reminiscent of the end of the movie Clue, without the farce). Probably 2.5 if you can grit your teeth against the continuous references to "darkies", sexism, and the sheer gall of the wealthy attitude.
November 7, 2020
A bunch of 1920s house-party guests prowling around in an old dark house on Halloween trying to solve a murder? Sounds perfect, right? In the end it let me down, though Noyes is undoubtedly a talented writer.
This is the Golden Age mystery on champagne and steroids—the characters a group of Bright Young Things, though not so young as they were, steeped in a breathless, heady blend of relationship melodrama and frothy verbal banter. I like melodrama and banter as much as the next person, but both are maintained at such a high level through most of the book that it becomes almost exhausting. Still, I probably could have given the book at least 3 stars and maybe even risen to 4 if it weren't for an ending that will make many readers want to fling it across the room. I started to sense about three-quarters of the way through that no matter who the culprit was the ending was going to seem dissatisfying, since it was becoming plain that I also felt let down by the fact that
This is the Golden Age mystery on champagne and steroids—the characters a group of Bright Young Things, though not so young as they were, steeped in a breathless, heady blend of relationship melodrama and frothy verbal banter. I like melodrama and banter as much as the next person, but both are maintained at such a high level through most of the book that it becomes almost exhausting. Still, I probably could have given the book at least 3 stars and maybe even risen to 4 if it weren't for an ending that will make many readers want to fling it across the room. I started to sense about three-quarters of the way through that no matter who the culprit was the ending was going to seem dissatisfying, since it was becoming plain that I also felt let down by the fact that
January 20, 2023
I wanted to read a book in October set during Halloween, and I remembered I had this book in my collection just for that reason. Seemed perfect: a Halloween party set in the '20s, written in the '20s; a big ol' mansion on a dark and stormy night; antiquated party games nobody plays anymore; murder and mystery.
I loved the setting and the mood that was set, and then I read on to get to the spooky parts. Hmm, nothing yet but the party guests going on about their personal lives and drama. OK, well the mystery bits should be turning up soon, no? No, not yet; just more about these socialites who think so highly of themselves, a lot more than I start caring about them. Halfway through the book, we finally get to the Halloween party games (Hide in the Dark being one of them), but by then I can't keep the characters straight because they're all just stock 1920s figures without much depth. By the time we get to the murder and the mystery, I'm bored with these people and want to leave the party myself. Despite making myself read on, I have no interest in them nor do I care what happens to them. The Halloween party became drudgery; a real shame.
I loved the setting and the mood that was set, and then I read on to get to the spooky parts. Hmm, nothing yet but the party guests going on about their personal lives and drama. OK, well the mystery bits should be turning up soon, no? No, not yet; just more about these socialites who think so highly of themselves, a lot more than I start caring about them. Halfway through the book, we finally get to the Halloween party games (Hide in the Dark being one of them), but by then I can't keep the characters straight because they're all just stock 1920s figures without much depth. By the time we get to the murder and the mystery, I'm bored with these people and want to leave the party myself. Despite making myself read on, I have no interest in them nor do I care what happens to them. The Halloween party became drudgery; a real shame.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews