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54th out of 105 books
—
65 voters
Beast In View
A psychological thriller by a mistress of suspense at the top of her form and 1956 winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award. What starts with a crank call from an old school chum sets the lonely, aloof, financially comfortable Miss Helen Clarvoe on a path as predictable only as madness. Lured from her rooms in a second-rate residential Hollywood hotel, she finds herself strande...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
December 20th 1999
by Carrol & Graf Publishers
(first published 1955)
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Like a 3.75 rounded up. My first, but not last, novel by Margaret Millar, Beast in View is really more of a story of psychological suspense rather than a full-blown crime novel, set in Southern California of the 1950s.
Helen Clarvoe, a young woman now 30, lives alone in a small hotel in Hollywood. Her mother, with whom she only rarely communicates by mail, lives six miles away with her brother Douglas. Helen lived there in a self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world, "behind her wall of m...more
Helen Clarvoe, a young woman now 30, lives alone in a small hotel in Hollywood. Her mother, with whom she only rarely communicates by mail, lives six miles away with her brother Douglas. Helen lived there in a self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world, "behind her wall of m...more
It’s on page 223 of BEAST IN VIEW [the original Random House edition] that the title is used in a phrase, in a paragraph which continues from the previous page, and we begin to be certain of what’s been going on. As with any good mystery/suspense novel, we known that the clues have been there all along:
". . . Only one face stood out among the others, pale, composed, half-smiling. Evelyn Merrick. She was standing in the shadowed doorway of a small TV repair shop, leaning idly against the plate-gl...more
". . . Only one face stood out among the others, pale, composed, half-smiling. Evelyn Merrick. She was standing in the shadowed doorway of a small TV repair shop, leaning idly against the plate-gl...more
Beast in View is a suspenseful psychological thriller by Margaret Millar. Winner of the 1956 Edgar Award for Best Novel and also named one of the Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time by the Mystery Writers of America, the novel may be a bit dated in its views of homosexuality and use certain psychological terms but it still packs quite a punch.
At thirty, Helen Clarvoe may be rich but she is lonely. Her only visitors are the staff at the hotel where she lives and her only phone calls come from a st...more
At thirty, Helen Clarvoe may be rich but she is lonely. Her only visitors are the staff at the hotel where she lives and her only phone calls come from a st...more
This early 1950s novel won the third 'Edgar Award' of the Mystery Writers' Association of America.
The Wikipedia entry on Margaret Millar says 'Often we are shown the rather complex interior lives of the people in her books, with issues of class, insecurity, failed ambitions, loneliness or existential isolation or paranoia often being explored' and certainly that summarises the main characters in this short book.
Equally valid is the view, quoted in the Wikipedia article, that 'the actual writing...more
The Wikipedia entry on Margaret Millar says 'Often we are shown the rather complex interior lives of the people in her books, with issues of class, insecurity, failed ambitions, loneliness or existential isolation or paranoia often being explored' and certainly that summarises the main characters in this short book.
Equally valid is the view, quoted in the Wikipedia article, that 'the actual writing...more
This seems to be my season for reading about fragmented and disintegrating personalities. An isolated, neurotic woman starts receiving nasty phone calls from a mysterious stranger. As more people start to receive these calls, always containing information, true or false, that has a devastating impact on their lives, it turns out that the caller is no stranger at all. How little of a stranger she is becomes clear only as the story reaches its perfectly-pitched climax. Millar's writing is impeccab...more
An intriguing and highly readable novella with a nice touch of sexual deviancy is completely undermined by its shock-denouement feeling a little 'old hat'. About a third of the way in I started to realize the outcome and it soon became blindingly obvious. From this point on it was a bit of a chore to finish the book so that by the time of the 'big reveal' I was thinking "ho-hum..."
Very much of it's time in it's portrayal of gays and lesbians - weak suicidal homos and twisted predatory dykes. Bu...more
Very much of it's time in it's portrayal of gays and lesbians - weak suicidal homos and twisted predatory dykes. Bu...more
After that disappointing Vargas experience, I was very pleased to have read Millar’s book that same day I checked it out of the library. I came to this book, published in 1955, after having read an article about “Gone Girl”, by G. Flynn. It had been out of print for some time, but it seems to be back. It is a psychological thriller written in the likes of Highsmith and Rendell. The ambiance is definitely 1950s LA, which I really enjoyed; and do I dare mention there is something about this book t...more
The Edgar winner for 1956 is an intersection of the mystery genre and Freudian ideas. One of the characters has a split personality, called schizophrenia in the 1950s but now called multiple personality disorder. The mystery comes into play because the reader does not know until the end which character is afflicted. According to the author's bio, she made an extensive study of psychiatry as part of her education.
The writing is mediocre and the story gets off to a slow start. But homosexuality...more
A gripping and unsettling thriller that's brilliantly written.
Margaret Millar was the wife of Ross MacDonald. What a talented couple! This is considered to be her masterpiece, winning the Edgar Award over another wonderful literary thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley and finding a place in Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books as chosen by H.R.F. Keating amongst other similar lists.
Helen Carvoe receives a crank call, with the help of her semi-retired stockbroker cajoled in to working as a reluctant...more
Margaret Millar was the wife of Ross MacDonald. What a talented couple! This is considered to be her masterpiece, winning the Edgar Award over another wonderful literary thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley and finding a place in Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books as chosen by H.R.F. Keating amongst other similar lists.
Helen Carvoe receives a crank call, with the help of her semi-retired stockbroker cajoled in to working as a reluctant...more
8 likes · like · see review
This book is now dated, as many people mentioned - a very '50s treatment of the topic of homosexuality along with some psychological content that was probably in style at the time. I will say that I didn't see the end coming (I guessed a completely different solution) but I wasn't really pulled along by it. I did enjoy that each chapter begins with a different character in a different scene, making the beginning of each chapter a little bewildering as you find your bearings. It's interesting tha...more
A noir-ish psychological thriller set in 1950s LA and Hollywood about mental illness and a woman spiralling out of control. It's full of appropriately seedy settings and people--bars, a second-rate hotel, drunken telephone operators, artists, publicity-hungry nude models, photographers in sordid studios shooting dirty pictures, sexual hangups, superannuated trophy wives--everything you need. I brought this in to read while I proctored an exam and I had it almost finished by the time the exam was...more
Βρήκα την Ιταλική έκδοση του βιβλίου της Margaret Millar Beast in view τυχαία σε μια μικρή καφετέρια δίπλα από το αεροδρόμιο Μυκόνου. Μέσα στα πολλά βιβλία βρήκα και αυτό και για να πω την αλήθεια αν δεν ήταν για το έντονο κίτρινο εξώφυλλο δεν θα το είχα ξεχωρίσει. Ξεκίνησα να το διαβάζω στο αεροπλάνο και αμέσως με συνεπήρε. Το πρώτο στην ουσία βιβλίο μυστηρίου που διάβασα διότι πιο πριν κακώς σνόμπαρα το είδος. Η Κα. Μίλαρ πλάθει μια όμορφη ιστορία με ανθρώπους που μπορούν κάλλιστα να είναι φίλ...more
Apr 23, 2010
Colleen Venable
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-adult,
2010-read
Bought it entirely on a whim after falling in love with the original cover. http://www.flickr.com/photos/42080330... 75 cents on ebay later and it was MINE! Unfortunately when it arrived from ebay it was a horrible 80's painting instead of a woman starring blandly out a window with a half smirk like she has gas and not some horrible problem/secret. (Well I guess if the gas is bad enough that COULD count, but still, not exactly the thriller I was hoping for.) If I had to give stars for the writin...more
Jul 26, 2012
rabbitprincess
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of psychological thrillers or Ross Macdonald
Recommended to rabbitprincess by:
Top 100 list
Helen Clarvoe picks up the phone one day and finds a mysterious caller at the other end: someone claiming to be a school friend of hers, whom she had long since stopped thinking about. The friend happens to have an unnerving way of poking at people's deepest insecurities, saying just the right thing to drive them to despair. And she seems to be leaving a trail of devastation in her wake… can she be stopped before too many lives are ruined?
I really liked the writing in this book. Margaret Millar...more
I really liked the writing in this book. Margaret Millar...more
This psychological novel must have seemed very new and shocking at the time it was written, but feels quite old hat now. Another book with truly unengaging characters, it was the third winner of the Edgar for Best Novel. It took me 6 weeks to get through this rather short book, as it was a distasteful subject and (once again) not a
classic detective story. I would term it a psychological thriller.
Helen Clarvoe, a wealthy recluse although she is only 30-ish, calls her attorney to report that she...more
classic detective story. I would term it a psychological thriller.
Helen Clarvoe, a wealthy recluse although she is only 30-ish, calls her attorney to report that she...more
I was twelve when this book was first published. It is so easy to forget how different the world felt to women, gays, African-Americans back then. If you wonder if we are making any social progress, read this. Millar was known for the psychological depth of her books and the plot of Beast in View certainly plays that up. You may find yourself shaking your head, wondering "How can they think that way?" Well, remember, they really did!
Set in L.A. in the fifties, this taut and fast-paced suspense novel has a noirish feel about it. The psychological aspects are perhaps a little clumsily dealt with, but it's a whole lot more enjoyable than most modern thrillers dealing with fragmented personalities. Would have made an excellent movie in the right hands.
Margaret Millar is a very interesting mystery writer. She wrote mainly in the 1960s, and her stories are surreal and filled with paranoia. Her stories are shortish but well worth reading. She was married to Ross MacDonald and her books were overshadowed by his books. "Beast in View" is considered her best story.
This was my first book by Margaret Millar, who I understand was married to Kenneth Millar (Ross MacDonald), and actually published before he did, yet she has been left behind. "Beast In View" made me become a fan of her retro psychological thrillers, and I will be reading all the rest, if I can find them.
This thriller grabs you in the first few lines. Very well written with lots of twists and turns. Margaret Millar, wife of famous hard-boiled writer Ross MacDonald, understands how to create tension and unease, but the gimmick of the novel undermines the emotional force of its language.
This is a one-trick pony of a novel, and once you are on to the trick, there is very little to hold one's interest. Characterization is minimal, plotting is awkward (e.g. Blackshear suddenly, and very improbably, falling in love with Helen) and the writing is flat and unatmospheric.
Don't let the quaint 1950s setting and dated social attitudes mislead you. This is a first-rate psychological suspense mystery. Devastating climax helps to make it MM's masterpiece. Won the Edgar in 1956.
3 likes · like · see review
A short riveting psychological thriller. It’s very dated, written in 1955, but a good book to read when you want to be totally unaware of your surroundings.
I agree with other reviews that call this more of a psychological thriller than a mystery. Definitely creepy.
Excellent read. At no point was I ever comfortable. The creepiness began on page 1 and carried through to the end.
I understand why this book won the Edgar for best mystery on 1955. A superb book. Read it if you can.
Sep 12, 2012
Jen
marked it as potential-reads
noir book recommended in slate culture gabfest 9/11/12
This book feels like melty dark teal.
Quick read, good ending,
Not a bad little mystery novel. Started out very promising but then kind of fell apart in the middle when the "detective" decided he was in love with the protagonist and I was never sure why. There was a surprise "twist" at the end which didn't get very well explained and frankly, I'm not sure really held up when I thought about it. I liked the tone of the book and have more Margaret Millar coming from the library so I will probably give her another shot.
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Margaret Ellis Millar (née Sturm) was an American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, she was educated there and in Toronto. She moved to the United States after marrying Kenneth Millar (better known under the pen name Ross Macdonald). They resided for decades in the city of Santa Barbara, which was often utilized as a locale in her later novels under the pseudonyms o...more
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Nov 12, 2012 06:22am