Showing results by author "Ethel Lina White" in All Categories

A novelist ambles down the lanes of a cosy country village, replete with Tudor houses and quaint cottages. In her writer's mind she pictures the sordid truth beyond the veneer, a seemingly laughable proposition - until the coming of the letters. Anonymous letters from a poisoned pen, sowing discord and defaming everybody from the Rector to the 'queen of the village' Miss Decima Asprey. Naturally, where there is venom in the air and dark secrets are threatening to come to light, the shadow of death is not far behind.

Iris Carr is tired and exhausted. Travelling by train from Switzerland to England she is surrounded by alien languages and situations which she finds difficult to comprehend. She is relieved therefore when talkative old English governess Miss Froy becomes her impromptu travelling companion. But when Iris wakes from a short sleep Miss Froy has vanished - and none of the passengers will acknowledge her existence. Is Iris mad? Or is there some more sinister reason for the woman's vanishing?

"The Lady Vanishes" erschien 1936 zunächst unter dem Titel "The Wheel Spins". Eine schöne Analogie, denn die Geschichte spielt nicht nur überwiegend in einem fahrenden Zug - auch die Protagonistin scheint ein bisschen durchgedreht zu sein: Iris, eine frivole junge Engländerin im Italienurlaub, erleidet am Rückreisetag am Bahnhof des glühend heißen Ferienorts einen Schwächeanfall. In letzter Minute landet sie in einem ebenfalls völlig überhitzen Abteil zwischen einer italienischen Familie, einer düsteren Baroness und Miss Froy, einer geschwätzigen Gouvernante, die sich um die immer noch schwache Iris kümmert, ihr aber bald auf die Nerven geht.

Four girls have been murdered. As darkness falls, the young maid Helen Capel feels distinctly uneasy, as though she is being watched, as she walks through the woods alone. News of yet another murder reaches the ears of the inhabitants, but this time close to their isolated family home on the Welsh border. Under the instruction of the Professor Warren, nobody may leave or enter the house that night. Just as the Professor finishes his announcement someone starts to knock loudly at the front door....

Hörspielbearbeitung und Regie: Regine Ahrem. Ein geheimnisvoller Mädchenmörder sorgt in der englischen Provinz für Angst und Schrecken. Immer näher rückt die Spur seiner Verbrechen zu dem einsamen Landhaus vor, in dem die junge Helen als Dienstmädchen arbeitet. Während draußen ein Gewitter tobt, das alle Straßen unpassierbar macht, mehren sich die Anzeichen, dass der Mörder bereits im Innern des Hauses ist.

Questa signora del giallo, Ethel Lina White, che scrive thriller psicologici apparentemente tranquilli, fa crescere la storia a piccoli passi, portando il lettore attraverso colpi di scena successivi al culmine della suspence, e alla rivelazione dei punti oscuri, di cui peraltro ella stessa aveva fornito gli indizi. Il romanzo fu pubblicato nel 1935, e riscoperto dopo un lungo oblio nel 2015, proprio per i suoi toni noir appetibili ai lettori moderni.

Questa scrittrice britannica raggiunse la popolarità negli anni '30 e '40 come scrittrice di romanzi gialli. L'ambientazione di questo, in una casa isolata della campagna inglese, riporta al gusto dei classici thriller psicologici dell'epoca, di cui la Christie fu l'esponente più famosa. In questo volume, il cui secondo titolo era "Qualcuno deve vegliare", la suspence cresce di pagina in pagina, e nel corso del romanzo vengono seminati indizi per permettere al lettore di formare le proprie ipotesi, senza però che questo compito gli sia facile.

Travelling home from a European holiday, Iris Carr ends up alone at the station after a quarrel with her friends. Struck by a mysterious assailant and waking up just in time to board the train which will take her on her journey to London, things seem to be looking up after a chance meeting with the affable Miss Froy. But when Iris passes out and reawakens, Miss Froy is nowhere to be found. The other passengers deny any knowledge of her existence and as the train speeds across Europe, Iris spirals deeper and deeper into a strange conspiracy.