Shelley Smith (1) (1912–1998)

Death Stalks a Lady by Shelley Smith is a vintage mystery novel that was originally published in 1945. This is very much a “woman in jeopardy” mystery that is told in two parts, the first by the lady herself, Judith Allen and the second by her American friend, Robert Stone.

Judith has returned to England and the family home after the death of her father. Obviously her parents lived separate lives and Judith had been raised mostly by her father in America. Her older brother and sister had remained in England with their mother. Upon his death, the father had bequeathed all his money to Judith, cutting the rest of the family out of the will. It came as no surprise that someone appeared to be stalking Judith and planning on her demise, and that someone would be someone closely related to Judith. But another suspect enters the picture when Judith meets and falls in love with Rex Brady, is he as good as he appears or is he after her money as well. There are plenty of red herrings supplied as well as a body or two, but eventually the story comes together with a satisfying conclusion.

While I didn’t love this book, finding there were just too many questions to be answered, it wasn’t all that bad either. There was one interesting twist to Judith’s inheritance and plenty of interesting characters but I was left feeling a little unsatisfied with the convoluted story.… (más)

I had never heard of The Party at No. 5 by Shelley Smith before seeing it on H. R. Keating’s List of 100 Best Crime Novels. Originally published in 1954, this is an odd story that has been labelled an “inverted mystery” by one critic, and a story of domestic malice by another. I was totally absorbed by this book and needing to see the resolution, read it in one sitting.

Two elderly ladies are brought together, one as a companion to the other, and we see them become more and more resentful of each other. Mrs. Rampage is spoilt and insensitive, although she lives in a large house and is surrounded by beautiful things, she pinches every penny and counts the cost of everything. Her niece has brought Mrs. Roach into the house to be her companion. Mrs. Roach is a widow who has no financial security and must work for a living. On the surface Mrs. Roach appears to be a patient, caring person but as the book develops we find she is deftly separating Mrs. Rampage from her friends and family as well as procuring valuable items from the house. The two women circle around each other, their relationship moving from friendly, to resentful, to hatred. The tension mounts and we wonder which one of the two will finally gain the upper hand.

The author did an excellent job with both the interplay between the two characters and with slowly building the tension as Mrs. Rampage feels more and more trapped in a situation that she can’t control. The atmosphere in the book changes as the story develops and we go from the light, almost humorous mood at the beginning of the book to downright horror. The Party At No. 5 may not work for everyone as it is a very claustrophobic story but I thought it was pure genius.… (más)