Miker,
Re your comments below:
> Also thanks for the Forties top ten list. The
only
> two I had read were SOLOMON'S VINEYARD and A
TASTE
> FOR
> VIOLENCE. Although Halliday's novel didn't make
it
> into my "top" list, I still thought it
was
> well-written,
> smart, and interesting.
On balance, you're probably right. I thought of nine books
easily but couldn't think of a tenth off the top of my head.
However "Top Nine" doesn't have the same ring, so I, after
some thought, I added in A TASTE FOR VIOLENCE based primarily
on my love for "town-tamer" books and on the fact that I
still remember it so vividly after reading it as a callow
schoolboy.
Though I like A TASTE FOR VIOLENCE very much, on reflection,
I think I'd drop it in favor of Cornell Woolrich's THE BRIDE
WORE BLACK.
The theme of a murderess avenging the death of a loved one is
very compelling, but what struck me most about the book was
the structure.
Divided into five parts (one for each murder), each part is,
in turn, divided into three chapters. The first is written
from the POV of the widow who's trailing each of the men she
holds responsible for the death of her husband with the
intention of killing them. The second is from the POV of the
victim. The third from the POV of the detective on the
case.
So far, we've got a classic "inverted mystery," one in which,
in contrast to a "whodunit," we see the murder, and know
exactly who the murderer is, then sit back and watch while
the detective tries to figure out what we already know.
In the last part, however, Woolrich pulls a switch. We know
who the murderer is, but not which persona she's adopted for
this murder, so the book is suddenly transformed from an
"inverted mystery" back to the more common "whodunit." The
seemingly effortless switch has always impressed the hell out
of me.
Woolrich reworked the theme of "murder to avenge the death of
a loved one" in RENDEVOUS IN BLACK, but I thought it was
brought off better in BRIDE. I also prefer it to PHANTOM LADY
(written as by "William Irish"), which, with BRIDE, is
possibly Woolrich's best-known novel.
JIM DOHERTY
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