What do you think?
Rate this book
The Party at No. 5
An unwanted guest…
Mrs. Rampage lives alone in a large house full of her precious belongings.
With her daughter living the other side of the world, she is persuaded by friends that she ought to take a companion into her home.
Begrudgingly she accepts a well-mannered lady, Mrs. Roach, to keep her company, who has a view to assist her where necessary.
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 under Mrs. Rampage’s roof.
With Mrs. Rampage protective of her multiple antiques and family heirlooms, the pair’s initially amicable relationship soon turns sour...
Before long, both are miserable, but feeling desperate, and with nowhere to go, Mrs. Roach makes it her duty to stay...
The senility of Mrs. Rampage is soon questioned and the lives of both her and Mrs. Roach become entangled in catastrophic circumstances.
The Party at No.5 subtly shocks and effortlessly transcends from humour to horror.
Praise for The Party at No.5
“...This is one of Miss Smith’s most telling tales, maneuvered with a sort of inexorable malice while altering its mood from light amusement to horror and then to a fiercely poignant finale. A very good piece of work indeed.”
— New York Herald Tribune
“Often subtle and interesting … earns high marks as an understated study in intimate domestic evil.” — Anthony Boucher, New York Times
“[This] inverted mystery is a novel of dreadful credibility, brilliantly written and exercising an uncanny power of dividing the reader’s sympathies.” — San Francisco Chronicle
Nancy Bodington was born in 1912. Under the pen name of Shelley Smith,she wrote 15 crime and detective novels between 1942 and 1978. Smith is best known for The Ballard of the Running Man and its 1963 film adaption starring Laurence Harvey and Lee Remick.
Mrs. Rampage lives alone in a large house full of her precious belongings.
With her daughter living the other side of the world, she is persuaded by friends that she ought to take a companion into her home.
Begrudgingly she accepts a well-mannered lady, Mrs. Roach, to keep her company, who has a view to assist her where necessary.
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 under Mrs. Rampage’s roof.
With Mrs. Rampage protective of her multiple antiques and family heirlooms, the pair’s initially amicable relationship soon turns sour...
Before long, both are miserable, but feeling desperate, and with nowhere to go, Mrs. Roach makes it her duty to stay...
The senility of Mrs. Rampage is soon questioned and the lives of both her and Mrs. Roach become entangled in catastrophic circumstances.
The Party at No.5 subtly shocks and effortlessly transcends from humour to horror.
Praise for The Party at No.5
“...This is one of Miss Smith’s most telling tales, maneuvered with a sort of inexorable malice while altering its mood from light amusement to horror and then to a fiercely poignant finale. A very good piece of work indeed.”
— New York Herald Tribune
“Often subtle and interesting … earns high marks as an understated study in intimate domestic evil.” — Anthony Boucher, New York Times
“[This] inverted mystery is a novel of dreadful credibility, brilliantly written and exercising an uncanny power of dividing the reader’s sympathies.” — San Francisco Chronicle
Nancy Bodington was born in 1912. Under the pen name of Shelley Smith,she wrote 15 crime and detective novels between 1942 and 1978. Smith is best known for The Ballard of the Running Man and its 1963 film adaption starring Laurence Harvey and Lee Remick.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1964
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2026
Fascinating psychological narrative about a nervous, acquisitive and suspicious woman taking in a lady companion who is on her uppers. Neither woman is remotely likeable and they gradually get on each other’s nerves! Both women meddling with each other’s possessions.
There is no murder mystery here and, indeed, no murder until virtually the end of the book. There is a homoerotic undertone to the companion’s relationship with another woman.
On the debit side, I found the book difficult to get into with confusions over the narrative flitting from characters’ surnames to their first names and back again.
On the plus side it was a very unusual entry to the British Library Crime series
There is no murder mystery here and, indeed, no murder until virtually the end of the book. There is a homoerotic undertone to the companion’s relationship with another woman.
On the debit side, I found the book difficult to get into with confusions over the narrative flitting from characters’ surnames to their first names and back again.
On the plus side it was a very unusual entry to the British Library Crime series
August 11, 2026
Well written, but I never quite got into this book.
Mrs Roach moves in with elderly Mrs Rampage at her niece’s request to look after her. Tensions start to rise to the point of inevitable disaster.
In their own way, both of the main characters are quite unlikeable, and that alongside the sense of tension never really gave you anyone to root for.
I’d read more by this author, but I can’t say I enjoyed the plot here.
Mrs Roach moves in with elderly Mrs Rampage at her niece’s request to look after her. Tensions start to rise to the point of inevitable disaster.
In their own way, both of the main characters are quite unlikeable, and that alongside the sense of tension never really gave you anyone to root for.
I’d read more by this author, but I can’t say I enjoyed the plot here.
August 27, 2019
Good creepy tale of two controlling women and their downward spiral
Good story of two women who become more and more resentful of the other .
Loved the depiction of the woman left and her descent into the madness after a grave act was carried out
Sense of building tensions and good descriptions so could envisage the house really well
Good story of two women who become more and more resentful of the other .
Loved the depiction of the woman left and her descent into the madness after a grave act was carried out
Sense of building tensions and good descriptions so could envisage the house really well
Want to Read
September 19, 2018Synopsis: aka The Party at No. 5. Mrs. Rampage lives alone; she takes in a tenant, a widow named Mrs. Roach. Seems OK; is it?
September 15, 2019
A cat and mouse game plays out in No. 5, where old Mrs. Rampage revel in her antiques while Mrs. Roach scrabble for shelter and food on the table. Shades of Ethel Lina White in the depiction of the characters and the horridness of it all.
July 26, 2017
I'm not really sure about this one. it wasn't bad, just a bit odd. Found it during a clear out. Don't recall buying it and it's not my normal type of book but it was ok
June 12, 2020
Mi è piaciuto molto il modo in cui l'autrice ha delineato la psicologia dei personaggi, con grande realismo. La suspense resta alta fino alla fine. Un gran bel noir.
March 10, 2021
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews