Sorry Wrong Number

by Lucille Fletcher

Alone in a strange city...a strange house, a strange bed.
Awake in the fear-drenched summer night, sleepless, tormented by the message of menace that came over the telephone.
Afraid, she lay in an invalid's bed, unable to take one step to save her life. Only the telephone could help, and she spun the black and red figures endlessly around and around the dial. She called everyone she knew in the strange city, but none would come - and in the end she would have to face murder.
Alone.

Genres: Plays

118 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 1, 1948

About the author

Lucille Fletcher is best known for her suspense classic Sorry, Wrong Number, originally a radio play, later a novel, TV play and motion picture. She has written extensively for both screen and television, and is the author of several successful mystery novels, including Blindfold, . . . And Presumed Dead, The Strange Blue Yawl and The Girl in Cabin B54. She is the author of the recently successful Broadway play Night Watch, which was also a motion picture starring Elizabeth Taylor. A native of Brooklyn and a graduate of Vassar College, Lucille Fletcher lived on the eastern shore of Maryland with her husband, novelist Douglass Wallop, until his death in 1985.

This author bio was adapted from the bio on the dust jacket of an Eighty Dollars to Stamford hardcover.

Reviews

[Claire O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever short play about a woman who overhears a murder plot on the phone and tries to prevent it.

[margo ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an enjoyable piece! I would love to see it staged one day.

[Jay C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novella length story found in McSweeney’s 45, “Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven”

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little dated by now, but this used to be a great short play for schools to put on, because it could use several different actors (voices for phone calls) and did not require too much acting ability. I believe it originated as a radio play. There is a lot of suspense in this one, and the successive phone calls are an interesting plot device to tell this story. Although it was written a long time ago and there are doubtlessly better options for more modern short plays out there these days, I still enjoyed reading this one and would enjoy seeing it performed again today.