The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong

JetBlackDragonfly
Jan 4
2 min read

"You can't foresee it - You can't forget it" cries the 1947 film of this novel, starring Claude Raines and Joan Caulfield. This classic mystery really satisfies.

Young Jane is upset by the death of her cousin Rosaleen, secretary to famous director Luther Grandison. She hung herself at his Connecticut home, leaving a note that she was in love with him, please forgive her. Rosaleen's Air Force fiancé Francis doesn't believe it, neither does Jane who begins investigating, posing as the new secretary.

Grandison has two young ladies as wards - the beautiful Althea, married to Oliver, and Mathilda, who will inherit a fortune when she marries. Weeks ago, Mathilda was to marry Oliver, until he jilted her with his surprise marriage to Althea. Heartbroken, Mathilda went on a cruise which sank, and she was presumed drowned at sea—but actually rescued and returning to New York. Francis has the incredible idea to meet Mathilda at the dock and convince her they married after a whirlwind romance before she sailed. She is completely dubious, but hotel staff call her Mrs., and the justice who married them claims it is true. Francis knows all about the family, but she can't believe it. When there is another death in a locked room in the home, Tom Gahagen of the Detective Bureau arrives, but everyone has a solid alibi. Again, a suicide note for forgiveness was left. The rule is misfortunes come in threes, and before Mathilda can figure out why Francis was there, he mysteriously disappears!

Your five senses feel it - the presence of death! Clever Grandison plays everyone, even lecturing on the masks people wear every day. The unsuspected can commit crimes in plain sight. It's clear from the start he likes to make people think what he wants, and they are under the spell of a great director. This combines a clever 'amnesia' story with a fortune, and a killer operating in plain sight. Well drawn with a thick plot and solid characters.

Republished and widely available in all formats.

1946 / Paperback / 220 pages