The Room Upstairs by Mildred Davis

What terrible secret lay behind the bandages that masked her face?

Who is this woman who has been a recluse for many years - hidden away in the room upstairs?

Hard-boiled private eye Gene Swendsen introduces us to the secretive Corwith family, arriving undercover as their new chauffeur. The household is filled with tension and pure gothic mystery. The youngest daughter, the vibrant and beautiful Kitten, has been in an accident and remains a recluse in the locked room upstairs, leaving her family under a dark spell. There remain her other sisters - nervous, high-strung Hilda, and Dora, the oldest, who remains impassive and cold. His job as chauffeur is a perfect cover, leaving him in attendance but forgotten in the background. By overhearing items from the family and speaking with the other staff, Swendsen slowly pieces together the history of the family.

One of his first assignments is to drive the sisters to a friend's house for a cocktail party. While there, the friends decide to play a game of hypnotist and see what happens, noting you can't make someone do anything under the spell that they wouldn't do awake. This strikes a note when family friend Helen is put under and attacks someone who she thinks is Kitten! Perhaps they all harbor ill will towards the woman in the room upstairs.

At the end of each chapter, there is a note that looks like it is from Kitten's diary; however, these turn increasingly jaded and violent. Is Kitten the one in the room upstairs, recovering from the accident? And what of the mysterious phone calls Swendsen receives at the house - is he who he claims to be as well?

The mystery turns from a crime investigation to a dysfunctional family story, reminding me of a Peyton Place or Dark Shadows. It works on both levels with intriguing characters and slow plot revelations. Suspense and mind games, suppressed secrets and bitter memories. High entertainment with a unique and original plot well told.

Mildred Davis won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for The Room Upstairs as Best First Mystery in 1948.

1948 / Paperback / 244 pages

My other review of Mildred Davis:

They Buried A Man