Mid-century women's thrillers?

This is a wholly self-serving thread: I've decided to read women thriller writers of the mid-20th century for my summer reading project and I need recommendations.

So far I have Highsmith, duMaurier, Shirley Jackson, Josephine Tey, Dorothy Sayer (maybe).

Trying to avoid cozies and police procedurals/detective series (a la Inspector Morse, Miss Marple, etc.).

Anybody interested in discussing is welcome to come back and comment! No spoilers, please.

Cool project! I saw someone review this recently: Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense. I haven't read it myself but it looks like it would be a good jumping off point to introduce you to other mid-century suspense writers.

Whoa! Thank you, rarm! I put that right on my wish list.

A few pages into Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker, and I'm hooked. Also snagged Little Tales of Misogyny by Patricia Highsmith, which sounded like it might have vaguely inspired the John Waters film, "Serial Mom."

This is a great project. Jackson is one of my favorite authors, and I need to read more du Maurier and Highsmith, since I have enjoyed those books of theirs that I have read. I don't really know many authors beyond these, so I'll be following your thread for reading suggestions.

Gladys Mitchell wrote a lot of mysteries, many featuring the unique Mrs Bradley, but they may be a bit more towards the Miss Marple end of the spectrum for you. (Of the authors you list I'd say she's most like Tey and Sayers.) The two I've read impressed me though, as Mrs Bradley herself didn't turn up until halfway into the book, allowing the setting and the potential suspects to be fully fleshed out in their own right, rather than being secondary to the series' protagonist. The two that I read were Convent on Styx and The rising of the moon.

I loved Cassandra at the wedding when I read it many years ago. It seems time for a reread.

What I'm finding so interesting about the "domestic thriller" pre-Feminine Mystique is that some of the plots show that women clearly recognized what Betty Friedan called "the problem that has no name" and were exploring its more melodramatic consequences.

Rebecca is probably among the best-known novels in this genre, and it's clear that the nameless protagonist struggles with self-identity and purposelessness until her dead predecessor is exorcised. In some ways, that seems to be the central tension in domestic thrillers, but still exploring and hope to gain more insights.

Here's my review of Cassandra at the Wedding; there are SPOILERS.

http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-return-to-mid-20th-century-for-some....

I also hope to get an out-of-print copy of her later novel Trio.

Next up: Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey. It also has twins.

Edited to clean up links and stuff.

Brat Farrar (1942) a bit of a disappointment. Review here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-find-teys-domestic-thriller-bit-too....

Next up: The Bird's Nest, which is proving more challenging and satisfying.

There's a huge amount to unpack in Shirley Jackson's The Bird's Nest, but some initial thoughts are here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-explore-split-personalities-with.htm...

Picked up a copy of rarm's "Troubled Wives etc." recommended above, and will be getting into that next.

Have dipped into Highsmith's Little Tales of Misogyny, which are very short little vignettes, not even real stories, and are scary as hell. More anon.

I couldn't put The Bird's Nest down. And I'm another fan of Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives.

>9 nohrt4me2: I like your analysis of The bird's nest. It really is an excellent novel; great to have it and Jackson's other earlier work back in print at last.

Yes, it is a wonderful novel. I think there's an awful lot there to tear apart; I found I really wanted to do an extended paper on it!

Troubled Wives, Twisted Daughters is an excellent anthology! Thanks to rarm for recommending it.

So, am using Troubled Wives, Twisted Daughters to help me find more authors. Just completed A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong, whose short story, "A Splintered Monday" includes great characters but ends fairly predictably.

The novel, hmmm. Starts off very well, nicely written, but veers into a talky farce, which is rather jarring. Haven't decided if this is clever or inept, so review to come when I make up my mind.

LATER: And now that I've made up my mind, you can read the review here if you want: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-nearly-drink-dram-of-poison.html

Edited for accuracy.

Helen Nielson turns out to be a real find. Dead on the Level is a wonderful noir novel with great female characters. It's hard for an old movie buff like me not to try to cast the film version.

Her short story in the Weinman anthology, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," turns the neurotic wife story on it's head with a truly creepy ending.

Dead on the Level review is here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-revel-in-classic-noir-voice-that.htm...

About halfway through Patricia Highsmith's Deep Water. There are shades of Tom Ripley in this story of a marriage gone horribly wrong. No idea where this might end up.

Great idea!
I joined the group just so I could recommend Margaret Millar. She has quite a few psychological thrillers that I think would fit the bill.

>15 SJaneDoe:, Thank you!

Millar is in the Weinman anthology with a great short story, "The People Across the Canyon." Very creepy and Twilight-Zone worthy. (Which made me wonder how many TZ episodes were written by or adapted from writing by women, and the list is pitifully short).

I think I have Millar's "Stranger in My Grave" on my list of TBR's.

Finished Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith about a highly dysfunctional marriage, and The Blank Wall and Lady Killer by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding.

Nobody does psychopaths like Highsmith, so that was a pleasure.

Holding is good at juggling lots of really interesting and varied female personalities. She's interesting in that she seems to like to use crime as a means to present her characters with moral dilemmas.

Hope to have reviews soon.

And here's the review of Deep Water: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-meet-another-highsmith-psychopath.ht...

Still working on the Holding reviews--Raymond Chandler was a big admirer of her style, which is decidedly not Chandler-esque--and am about halfway through Laura by Vera Caspary, which is very good!

Review of The Blank Wall is here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-explore-wartime-domestic-tensions.ht...

Laura is not really a domestic thriller, so would leave it off the list here, but it's certainly a great read. It's also less about Laura than about her Svengali, Waldo Lydecker. The Kindle edition's end notes about Caspary's life are as fascinating as the novel. I wish I'd known her!

Just finished Celia Fremlin's sly and nuanced The Hours Before Dawn, which is one of the best of the books I've read so far. It's like one of those trick pictures that means one thing when you hold it right side up and the opposite when you hold it upside down. Also a wealth of very good minor characters and a lot of humor to balance the melodrama. May take some time to do justice to that review.

On to Bunny Lake Is Missing today.

Catching up on reviews. Celia Fremlin's The Hours Before Dawn and Evelyn Piper's Bunny Lake Is Missing are reviewed here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-read-about-mother-instinct-missing.h...

Have finished Vera Caspary's Bedelia, but have yet to review. Moving on to Stranger on Lesbos.

I came across this today and thought you might find something of interest:

http://womencrime.loa.org/

>21 JackieCarroll: Hey thanks! That Sarah Weinman is all over this genre. Looks like a great site.

I haven't had a chance to dig into it yet. It's a treat I'm saving for the weekend.

Stranger on Lesbos reviewed here: http://thegrimreader.blogspot.com/2015/08/i-encounter-lesbian-strain-in-domestic...

Have to review Stranger in My Grave and Bedelia, and will be done with this summer's project, but look forward to reading more domestic thrillers from this time period again.

Has been a very satisfying summer!

Whoof! Been awhile, but finally finished the survey paper of post-War women's domestic thrillers. Will present Friday. Works read below. All are worthy reads but best ones are marked (*)

Charlotte Armstrong
A Dram of Poison (1956)

Dorothy Baker
Cassandra at the Wedding (1962)

Vera Caspary (not strictly post-War, but so good, I'd include in the list)
Laura (1942)*
Bedelia (1945)

Celia Fremlin
The Hours Before Dawn (1958)*

Patricia Highsmith
The Price of Salt (1953)*
Deep Water (1957)*

Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
The Blank Wall (1947)*

Shirley Jackson
The Bird’s Nest (1954)

Margaret Millar
A Stranger in My Grave (1960)

Helen Nielson
Dead on the Level (1951)

Evelyn Piper
Bunny Lake is Missing (1957)*

Valerie Taylor
Stranger on Lesbos (1960)

Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives*
Short story anthology, ed Sarah Weinman (2013)