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Cry Wolf
Cry Wolf is a WWII Romantic Thriller, and winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award. It was made into a movie in 1947 starring Barbara Stanwyck and Errol Flynn.
Sandra Wallace is a rare female archeologist at Harvard, trying to build a career without research funds, when she meets Jim Demarest, scion of a prominent New England family. Stymied from inheriting until he’s thirty or married, he has begun to suspect that his Uncle Mark, trustee of his fortune, wants the money for himself. Jim offers Sandra a princely sum if she will marry him long enough for the inheritance to go through, then divorce him on grounds of abandonment. Desperate to start her research, she agrees, and additionally promises that if he is killed in the war, she will ensure his fortune goes to his teenage sister, Julie, a ward of Mark, who faces similar restrictions to her own inheritance.
Six months after the wedding, she returns from her first research expedition and reads in the paper that her husband has died at his uncle’s remote country estate. No mention is made of his having a wife or of having gained his inheritance. Suspicious and determined to keep her compact with Jim, she sets off to the funeral at Mark’s estate and announces herself as the widow.
Mark Caldwell is a brilliant chemist conducting experiments in a locked-off wing of his mansion for the government’s war efforts. His reception of Sandra is cold, but he allows her to remain while her claims are investigated. Julie turns out to be a vivacious, lonely seventeen-year-old who welcomes Sandra with open arms.
As the lawyer works through the inheritance, Sandra secretly investigates Jim’s death, and finds the story she has been told unraveling. Mark is handsome and gracious as he warms to her presence, but he is also subtle and clever – an alluring but formidable man. When Julie claims that Mark is holding her prisoner and that she hears strange noises in the locked-off wing of the mansion at night, Sandra abandons caution in her pursuit of the truth. In doing so she will become marked for murder by one of the most brilliant and scheming intellects she has ever encountered.
Sandra Wallace is a rare female archeologist at Harvard, trying to build a career without research funds, when she meets Jim Demarest, scion of a prominent New England family. Stymied from inheriting until he’s thirty or married, he has begun to suspect that his Uncle Mark, trustee of his fortune, wants the money for himself. Jim offers Sandra a princely sum if she will marry him long enough for the inheritance to go through, then divorce him on grounds of abandonment. Desperate to start her research, she agrees, and additionally promises that if he is killed in the war, she will ensure his fortune goes to his teenage sister, Julie, a ward of Mark, who faces similar restrictions to her own inheritance.
Six months after the wedding, she returns from her first research expedition and reads in the paper that her husband has died at his uncle’s remote country estate. No mention is made of his having a wife or of having gained his inheritance. Suspicious and determined to keep her compact with Jim, she sets off to the funeral at Mark’s estate and announces herself as the widow.
Mark Caldwell is a brilliant chemist conducting experiments in a locked-off wing of his mansion for the government’s war efforts. His reception of Sandra is cold, but he allows her to remain while her claims are investigated. Julie turns out to be a vivacious, lonely seventeen-year-old who welcomes Sandra with open arms.
As the lawyer works through the inheritance, Sandra secretly investigates Jim’s death, and finds the story she has been told unraveling. Mark is handsome and gracious as he warms to her presence, but he is also subtle and clever – an alluring but formidable man. When Julie claims that Mark is holding her prisoner and that she hears strange noises in the locked-off wing of the mansion at night, Sandra abandons caution in her pursuit of the truth. In doing so she will become marked for murder by one of the most brilliant and scheming intellects she has ever encountered.
184 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
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April 27, 2021I listened to this book because my friend narrated the audiobook. I got hooked on the story, and was impressed by the heroine.
April 20, 2024
This is a great book, and a well performed audiobook. A thriller, full of WW2 era intrigue, the characters are richly believable. The rights were purchased and it became a movie of the same name starring Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwick and Richard Basehart.
February 22, 2025
I absolutely appreciate the chance to borrow this historical masterpiece. The depth of the suspense piqued my interest right away. So many truths, so many lies. Very suspenseful!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews