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The Party at No. 5
Sharing your home with an unwanted guest can be murder.
Elderly Mrs. Rampage lives alone in a large London house full of the antiques and heirlooms she’s collected over the years. But she’s struggling to cope, and as her only daughter lives thousands of miles away, she is persuaded to advertise for a housekeeper and companion. Reluctantly, she accepts the courteous and capable Mrs. Roach into No 5 to help her.
With few possessions of her own, Mrs. Roach is in desperate need of a place to stay, but she soon has her own ideas about how things should be run in the house. And as Mrs. Rampage grows increasingly protective of her knick-knacks, and pushes at the boundaries of her new companion’s personal privacy, the pair’s initially amicable relationship soon turns sour. Before long, both women are thoroughly miserable, but stuck in unhappy coexistence with nowhere else to go. When Mrs. Roach digs in and makes it her duty to stay, the lives of both women become entangled in catastrophic circumstances.
Elderly Mrs. Rampage lives alone in a large London house full of the antiques and heirlooms she’s collected over the years. But she’s struggling to cope, and as her only daughter lives thousands of miles away, she is persuaded to advertise for a housekeeper and companion. Reluctantly, she accepts the courteous and capable Mrs. Roach into No 5 to help her.
With few possessions of her own, Mrs. Roach is in desperate need of a place to stay, but she soon has her own ideas about how things should be run in the house. And as Mrs. Rampage grows increasingly protective of her knick-knacks, and pushes at the boundaries of her new companion’s personal privacy, the pair’s initially amicable relationship soon turns sour. Before long, both women are thoroughly miserable, but stuck in unhappy coexistence with nowhere else to go. When Mrs. Roach digs in and makes it her duty to stay, the lives of both women become entangled in catastrophic circumstances.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
About the author
Shelley Smith
47 books9 followersPseudonym of Nancy Hermione Courlander Bodington.
Her sister Barbara published under the name Elizabeth Anthony.
Her sister Barbara published under the name Elizabeth Anthony.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 17, 2026
Cleverly written. I enjoyed the mystery and felt Mrs Roach to be a cleverly controlling character, felt sorry for Mrs Rampage .
September 15, 2026
The Party at No. 5 by Shelley Smith is my latest addition to my British Library Crime Classics collection. It hasn’t been published in Australia yet but I couldn’t wait and ordered it from Blackwells in the UK.
I think it is an unusual crime story, especially when compared with some of the other titles in the British Library Crime Classics series — and that was one of the things I enjoyed most about it.
It’s difficult to say too much about the story without giving away some of what makes it so intriguing, so I’m going to keep this review deliberately vague!
It’s Mrs Rampage’s birthday. She lives in a large house filled with treasures, but there’s a noticeable absence in her life: her daughter Jonquil, who lives overseas. Her niece suggests that perhaps she should take in a companion.
Enter Mrs Roach, who arrives with five large suitcases… and a cat. Mrs Rampage doubts whether this was the right decision.
What follows is a story that relies less on big dramatic moments and more on subtle, increasingly tense storytelling. Everyday situations gradually become uncomfortable, and I found myself wondering more and more about where everything was heading.
There’s also a gentle thread of humour running through the story, which creates an interesting contrast with the growing sense of unease. The atmosphere was another highlight for me — I could picture the house and its surroundings so vividly as I read.
I was hooked from the beginning, and the unusual approach to the crime story kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy mysteries that build their tension quietly rather than relying on constant drama, this is one to add to your reading list.
I think it is an unusual crime story, especially when compared with some of the other titles in the British Library Crime Classics series — and that was one of the things I enjoyed most about it.
It’s difficult to say too much about the story without giving away some of what makes it so intriguing, so I’m going to keep this review deliberately vague!
It’s Mrs Rampage’s birthday. She lives in a large house filled with treasures, but there’s a noticeable absence in her life: her daughter Jonquil, who lives overseas. Her niece suggests that perhaps she should take in a companion.
Enter Mrs Roach, who arrives with five large suitcases… and a cat. Mrs Rampage doubts whether this was the right decision.
What follows is a story that relies less on big dramatic moments and more on subtle, increasingly tense storytelling. Everyday situations gradually become uncomfortable, and I found myself wondering more and more about where everything was heading.
There’s also a gentle thread of humour running through the story, which creates an interesting contrast with the growing sense of unease. The atmosphere was another highlight for me — I could picture the house and its surroundings so vividly as I read.
I was hooked from the beginning, and the unusual approach to the crime story kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy mysteries that build their tension quietly rather than relying on constant drama, this is one to add to your reading list.
August 23, 2026
Excellent. If you like this genre, you’ll love this book. Great character development.
September 8, 2026
Well-written, but so fundamentally poisonous in its description of two terrible people interacting and making each other worse, that I will never read it again. File under “not my thing.”
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews