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Never Look Back
Book by Eberhart, Mignon G.
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1978
About the author
Mignon G. Eberhart
154 books80 followersMignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. She studied at Nebraska Wesleyan University from 1917 to 1920. In 1923 she married Alanson C. Eberhart, a civil engineer. After working as a freelance journalist, she decided to become a full-time writer. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. In the Forties, she and her husband divorced. She married John Hazen Perry in 1946 but two years later she divorced him and remarried her first husband. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. She also wrote many short stories featuring banker/amateur sleuth James Wickwire (who could be considered a precursor to Emma Lathen's John Putnam Thatcher) and mystery writer/amateur sleuth Susan Dare.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 9, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 244 (of 250)
By 1950, Cornell Woolrich was well into his 'Black' series: 'Bride Wore Black' and 'Rendezvous in Black' are 2 in the series of six. And even though they received mixed reviews in the USA, they were massively popular in France, as were many dark/pulp fiction authors, and were called 'noir' books, or 'roman noir.' Here, not only does "Never Look Back" SOUND like a Woolrich title, Eberhart uses the term 'woman in black' on about every other page in this book. It's irritating. Pointless. No matter how many times Eberhart types 'woman in black', she can't turn this into a Woolrich vision of bleak, horrific, desperation. Okay, yes, she stretches into another genre and sometimes that is successful. Heed this title when you're thinking about reading older books.
Hook- 1 star: >>> "She had no sense of uneasiness, no uncertainty, until the signal flashed on: NO SMOKING: FASTEN SEAT BELTS. Then another kind of warning flashed to her consciousness; it was the smallest of signals, the faintest flicker of a danger light, gone before she analyzed its message."<<< is our opening. Interesting: something is wrong with the flight, but it isn't just that: it's everything. What's going on here? Oh, how Eberhart tries. Is the plane crashing? NOPE! Is our heroine's cat in danger? Maybe. Is our heroine in danger? No, not at all. A desperate opening, a bad one for the ages.
PACE - 1 star. OH! Stop! We get a "woman in black" about a thousand times. Eberhart, please, you're a better author than this. Why, oh why are you trying to fool us into thinking about another author on about every page?
PLOT - 1:A woman decides to stay in her friend's penthouse apartment, way above a big city. Pure gothic: is the woman in the attic the woman who is a nutcase? Yes, substitute this penthouse for a Gothic Mansion and you have the same story as hundreds of others. And by the end of the story, nothing makes sense.
CAST: 1: I can't recall anyone. Other than the cat. And, best of all, the empty can of salmon. And when the most interesting character IS the empty can of salmon, you know you're reading....umm..not much.
ATMOSPHERE=3: Okay, the Manhattan penthouse is beautifully substituted for the gothic mansion, and the atmosphere is the best part of the book. There are terraces, great views, lots of glass floor-to-ceiling windows through which people MIGHT be staring into lighted rooms, and oh, I want one! Yes, 10,000 Sq ft on top of the world with a private elevator, surrounded by terraces. But personally, I'd have closed the drapes and gone to bed. Or moved into a safe hotel, as the central character doesn't own the penthouse anyway. She had no reason to even stay. But stay she does!
SuMMARy: 1.4. Eberhart struggles desperately for a Woolrich-midnight/pitch-black thriller. She isn't that kind of writer. The end makes NO sense and I've already forgotten who knocked off the 'woman in black.' Wait, I don't remember who was knocked off. Nor do I remember the killer. I know it wasn't the butler: there is no butler. But maybe there really was!
BOOK 244 (of 250)
By 1950, Cornell Woolrich was well into his 'Black' series: 'Bride Wore Black' and 'Rendezvous in Black' are 2 in the series of six. And even though they received mixed reviews in the USA, they were massively popular in France, as were many dark/pulp fiction authors, and were called 'noir' books, or 'roman noir.' Here, not only does "Never Look Back" SOUND like a Woolrich title, Eberhart uses the term 'woman in black' on about every other page in this book. It's irritating. Pointless. No matter how many times Eberhart types 'woman in black', she can't turn this into a Woolrich vision of bleak, horrific, desperation. Okay, yes, she stretches into another genre and sometimes that is successful. Heed this title when you're thinking about reading older books.
Hook- 1 star: >>> "She had no sense of uneasiness, no uncertainty, until the signal flashed on: NO SMOKING: FASTEN SEAT BELTS. Then another kind of warning flashed to her consciousness; it was the smallest of signals, the faintest flicker of a danger light, gone before she analyzed its message."<<< is our opening. Interesting: something is wrong with the flight, but it isn't just that: it's everything. What's going on here? Oh, how Eberhart tries. Is the plane crashing? NOPE! Is our heroine's cat in danger? Maybe. Is our heroine in danger? No, not at all. A desperate opening, a bad one for the ages.
PACE - 1 star. OH! Stop! We get a "woman in black" about a thousand times. Eberhart, please, you're a better author than this. Why, oh why are you trying to fool us into thinking about another author on about every page?
PLOT - 1:A woman decides to stay in her friend's penthouse apartment, way above a big city. Pure gothic: is the woman in the attic the woman who is a nutcase? Yes, substitute this penthouse for a Gothic Mansion and you have the same story as hundreds of others. And by the end of the story, nothing makes sense.
CAST: 1: I can't recall anyone. Other than the cat. And, best of all, the empty can of salmon. And when the most interesting character IS the empty can of salmon, you know you're reading....umm..not much.
ATMOSPHERE=3: Okay, the Manhattan penthouse is beautifully substituted for the gothic mansion, and the atmosphere is the best part of the book. There are terraces, great views, lots of glass floor-to-ceiling windows through which people MIGHT be staring into lighted rooms, and oh, I want one! Yes, 10,000 Sq ft on top of the world with a private elevator, surrounded by terraces. But personally, I'd have closed the drapes and gone to bed. Or moved into a safe hotel, as the central character doesn't own the penthouse anyway. She had no reason to even stay. But stay she does!
SuMMARy: 1.4. Eberhart struggles desperately for a Woolrich-midnight/pitch-black thriller. She isn't that kind of writer. The end makes NO sense and I've already forgotten who knocked off the 'woman in black.' Wait, I don't remember who was knocked off. Nor do I remember the killer. I know it wasn't the butler: there is no butler. But maybe there really was!
February 14, 2016
Margaret "Maggy" Brooke is returning home to the States after a two-week visit to England. Maggy is going to New York as a favor to her beloved father-in-law, Charles Brooke, who has been like a father to her in many ways. He certainly regards Maggy as the daughter he never had. One suspects that Maggy's marriage to Charles Brooke's only son, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, was due largely to the elder Brooke's influence. Charles believes that Maggy can "save" Fen from himself, but Maggy has her doubts. Her marriage to the spoiled, selfish Fen is on the rocks and the two have separated. However, Charles wants them to reconcile and intends to put Maggy in sole control of the couple's finances, an idea which Maggy hates. Still, Maggy would do anything for Charles, who has given her so much. It is out of obligation, not love, that she intends to do as Charles wishes. However, she dreads Fen's reaction when he hears the news.
Maggy stays in the penthouse apartment of Laura Brooke, a cousin by marriage. The penthouse is really more like a house. Really too much room for one person. Right from the start, Maggy feels on edge. She discovers a still-smoking cigarette in an ashtray, but no one else should have been in the apartment.
A tense, but polite meeting with Fen does not help matters. He tries to convince her to return to him, but she refuses. Fen has not changed. He only pretends to accept responsibility for his selfish actions:
Maggy refuses to go with Fen, who leaves after remarking:
Maggy is on edge. She constantly worries that her beloved Siamese cat, Simpson, will fall to his death from the terrace to the sidewalk 21 floors below. That night Maggy awakens during a storm and cannot find Simpson. She rushes out to the terrace:
Fortunately, Simpson is safe and Maggy believes she was just imagining things. However, the next morning she discovers an open can of salmon on the terrace. Maggy cannot understand why anyone would try to lure Simpson out onto the terrace – unless they were trying to lure her out using her cat as bait.
Maggy puts the incident out of her mind, but it increasingly becomes obvious that something sinister really is going on. A mysterious woman in black falls to her death from the apartment just below Maggy's. Was it murder, suicide or accidental? Did it have anything to do with Maggy? Two subsequent attempts on Maggy's life make it very clear that she is not imaging things after all.
Mignon G. Eberhart (MGE) does an excellent job of building suspense. The storm scene quoted above is one of her best. Maggy's terror of whatever lurks in the darkness is palpable. The plot is fast moving and really draws the reader in. I read this in less than a day. I got annoyed when people kept interrupting me towards the end. “Could you please let me finish my book?” It really was hard to put down.
Maggy is a likable heroine, but she tends to let people run her life for her and make her decisions, which can get irritating. I could not understand her fascination with Fen. During their conversation in the penthouse, Fen repeatedly pretends to accept responsibility for his actions, but does it in such a way that he is actually blaming someone else for what he did. Nothing is ever his fault. It is very apparent that Maggy no longer loves Fen. She merely feels an obligation to take care of him. Her real devotion is to Charles Brooke above all else.
The ending is a little confusing. I had to read it twice to understand what happened. There's a great deal of running around and cross-accusations. It's almost like MGE realized she had to end it and just tried to wrap everything up really fast. Despite that, I really enjoyed “Never Look Back.” It's definitely one of the better MGE books that I've read. Other good MGE books are Unknown Quantity and Five Passengers from Lisbon.
Maggy stays in the penthouse apartment of Laura Brooke, a cousin by marriage. The penthouse is really more like a house. Really too much room for one person. Right from the start, Maggy feels on edge. She discovers a still-smoking cigarette in an ashtray, but no one else should have been in the apartment.
A tense, but polite meeting with Fen does not help matters. He tries to convince her to return to him, but she refuses. Fen has not changed. He only pretends to accept responsibility for his selfish actions:
“Remember I didn't have a chance to sow any wild oats. There was always Father and old Agnes after me, like a policeman instead of a governess. Then I went right into the army and marriage.”
Maggy refuses to go with Fen, who leaves after remarking:
“Thunder. A storm is coming.”
Maggy is on edge. She constantly worries that her beloved Siamese cat, Simpson, will fall to his death from the terrace to the sidewalk 21 floors below. That night Maggy awakens during a storm and cannot find Simpson. She rushes out to the terrace:
“She clung to the wet, cold railing; she lifted her face, trying to see through rain and darkness; there was another vivid, greenish flash of lightning which sharply outlined the edge of the roof above. Something moved there, against the lighted sky.
The lightning was gone; thunder crashed over the city, all around her. There was only blackness above, below – everywhere. What had moved up there?
Had anything moved – like a head aware of her approach, jerking backward as the flash of lightning revealed it?
If anything moved, it was the cat; and it was not the cat.”
Fortunately, Simpson is safe and Maggy believes she was just imagining things. However, the next morning she discovers an open can of salmon on the terrace. Maggy cannot understand why anyone would try to lure Simpson out onto the terrace – unless they were trying to lure her out using her cat as bait.
Maggy puts the incident out of her mind, but it increasingly becomes obvious that something sinister really is going on. A mysterious woman in black falls to her death from the apartment just below Maggy's. Was it murder, suicide or accidental? Did it have anything to do with Maggy? Two subsequent attempts on Maggy's life make it very clear that she is not imaging things after all.
Mignon G. Eberhart (MGE) does an excellent job of building suspense. The storm scene quoted above is one of her best. Maggy's terror of whatever lurks in the darkness is palpable. The plot is fast moving and really draws the reader in. I read this in less than a day. I got annoyed when people kept interrupting me towards the end. “Could you please let me finish my book?” It really was hard to put down.
Maggy is a likable heroine, but she tends to let people run her life for her and make her decisions, which can get irritating. I could not understand her fascination with Fen. During their conversation in the penthouse, Fen repeatedly pretends to accept responsibility for his actions, but does it in such a way that he is actually blaming someone else for what he did. Nothing is ever his fault. It is very apparent that Maggy no longer loves Fen. She merely feels an obligation to take care of him. Her real devotion is to Charles Brooke above all else.
The ending is a little confusing. I had to read it twice to understand what happened. There's a great deal of running around and cross-accusations. It's almost like MGE realized she had to end it and just tried to wrap everything up really fast. Despite that, I really enjoyed “Never Look Back.” It's definitely one of the better MGE books that I've read. Other good MGE books are Unknown Quantity and Five Passengers from Lisbon.
August 11, 2025
One of two 1950s-era pulp novels I picked up at random during a visit to The Strand a couple weeks ago.
Better than I expected! Eberhart cranked out a book a year for almost 70 years and is apparently now out of print and practically forgotten. That’s a shame. This was a tidy little mystery/thriller. Not normally my lane, but it was a fun read. If I find another one of her books in a bin at an antique store, I would buy it.
Edited to add: I have no idea what the other reviews are referring to, but they bear no resemblance to the book I read. I’ll chalk it up to a case of “I found a book too rare to exist on GoodReads, and the closest entry I could find is clearly corrupted.”
Better than I expected! Eberhart cranked out a book a year for almost 70 years and is apparently now out of print and practically forgotten. That’s a shame. This was a tidy little mystery/thriller. Not normally my lane, but it was a fun read. If I find another one of her books in a bin at an antique store, I would buy it.
Edited to add: I have no idea what the other reviews are referring to, but they bear no resemblance to the book I read. I’ll chalk it up to a case of “I found a book too rare to exist on GoodReads, and the closest entry I could find is clearly corrupted.”
October 9, 2019
This little book I acquired randomly from a lending library because it was in good condition with a beautiful dust jacket and a first edition! It took me 5 years to pick it up but now that I have, I cannot believe I didn't read it sooner. I begged my poor mother to read it right after me because it is old and no one knows what it is. I had to have someone to discuss it with and LET ME TELL YOU! This book had me HOOKED! If you find this book in your hand, read it, it is such a gem! Perfect amount of creepy suspense that kept me guessing! Very entertaining! From a 23 year old, despite the books' age, it was an easy read and very enjoyable! Simple good mystery very fun!
October 27, 2025
In general, I find Eberhart's novels to be ok but not great, and Never Look Back falls in that category. While the blurb on this cover calls it "a novel of mystery and romance" I characterize it as a suspense of the 'had I but known' variety. I love the setting—an idyllic, 21st floor garden penthouse—but the lackluster plot dragged a bit. Poor Maggie, the protagonist who puts her trust in all the wrong people, is so vague and weak-willed that she doesn't seem to even trust her own judgement. Throughout the novel she clings to her beloved father-in-law's dying wish that she stay married to his charming but irresponsible son, mostly because no one else can keep the man-child from completely destroying himself. Instead of freeing herself from the burden, Maggie spends most of the book talking herself out of a separation that will leave her free to marry her loyal and upright childhood friend, convinced that she's honor-bound to a philandering husband. If you want to spend most of a book wishing a character would just grow a backbone, this one's for you! Also worth reading if you like descriptions of the moneyed life in 1950's New York. (I kinda do.)
October 9, 2022
Major characters:
Margaret "Maggy" Brooke
Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, her husband
Charles Brooke, her father-in-law
Laura Brooke, her New York cousin (by marriage)
Willy, the cook
Bill Sanderson
Joan Greenfield, Fen's old flame
Sloane Pickering
Sylvia Hunter
Russell Warner, attorney
the mysterious "woman in black"
Agnes Maclagen, Fen's childhood governess
Locale: New York City
Synopsis: Maggy Brooke is flying to the US from a visit to England. Her destination is the luxurious New York penthouse apartment of her cousin, Laura Brooke. She is anxious: will her estranged husband, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, meet her at the airport or not? He is a no-show. Upon arrival she is met only by lifetime friend Bill Sanderson. Maggy goes to the penthouse, but strange things happen indicating she is not alone. She finds a cigarette still burning and other signs of recent occupancy. To ease her anxiety, she invites Sylvia Hunter to stay with her. A mysterious "woman in black" keeps reappearing on the scene.
The visit to Laura Brooke was the idea of her father-in-law, Charles Brooke. He has hopes that Maggy and Fen will reconcile. Fen cannot handle money, and has embezzled from his employer - so Charles wants Maggy to handle the couple's money. While Maggy and Fen discuss this, word comes that Charles has died and left everything to Maggy in his will. Suddently Maggy is wealthy and several people have their eyes on that wealth, especially Fen.
Review: Right away, we have the usual Eberhart triangle set up. Maggy is torn between two men: her no-good husband (Mr. Wrong) and longtime friend Bill Sanderson (Mr. Right). We get a glimpse of the super-rich life of a 5th Avenue penthouse - nothing to do but drink martinis, and go out clothes and jewelry shopping. The suspense of some mysterious person accessing the penthouse builds throughout the story (although no one seems to think of changing the lock).
I had the "woman in black" figured out right away. Two things did fool me, however: I suspected Charles' death to be suspicious - but it wasn't. And when we finally do get a murder victim it was a relatively minor character I was not expecting.
Willy the cook is an enjoyable character and adds a lot to the story. Overall, a good fast-paced suspenseful tale, perfect for a rainy night at the penthouse.
Margaret "Maggy" Brooke
Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, her husband
Charles Brooke, her father-in-law
Laura Brooke, her New York cousin (by marriage)
Willy, the cook
Bill Sanderson
Joan Greenfield, Fen's old flame
Sloane Pickering
Sylvia Hunter
Russell Warner, attorney
the mysterious "woman in black"
Agnes Maclagen, Fen's childhood governess
Locale: New York City
Synopsis: Maggy Brooke is flying to the US from a visit to England. Her destination is the luxurious New York penthouse apartment of her cousin, Laura Brooke. She is anxious: will her estranged husband, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, meet her at the airport or not? He is a no-show. Upon arrival she is met only by lifetime friend Bill Sanderson. Maggy goes to the penthouse, but strange things happen indicating she is not alone. She finds a cigarette still burning and other signs of recent occupancy. To ease her anxiety, she invites Sylvia Hunter to stay with her. A mysterious "woman in black" keeps reappearing on the scene.
The visit to Laura Brooke was the idea of her father-in-law, Charles Brooke. He has hopes that Maggy and Fen will reconcile. Fen cannot handle money, and has embezzled from his employer - so Charles wants Maggy to handle the couple's money. While Maggy and Fen discuss this, word comes that Charles has died and left everything to Maggy in his will. Suddently Maggy is wealthy and several people have their eyes on that wealth, especially Fen.
Review: Right away, we have the usual Eberhart triangle set up. Maggy is torn between two men: her no-good husband (Mr. Wrong) and longtime friend Bill Sanderson (Mr. Right). We get a glimpse of the super-rich life of a 5th Avenue penthouse - nothing to do but drink martinis, and go out clothes and jewelry shopping. The suspense of some mysterious person accessing the penthouse builds throughout the story (although no one seems to think of changing the lock).
I had the "woman in black" figured out right away. Two things did fool me, however: I suspected Charles' death to be suspicious - but it wasn't. And when we finally do get a murder victim it was a relatively minor character I was not expecting.
Willy the cook is an enjoyable character and adds a lot to the story. Overall, a good fast-paced suspenseful tale, perfect for a rainy night at the penthouse.
August 31, 2013
Never Look Back is the kind of classic, atmospheric mystery I love. Written by a master of the genre, Mignon G. Eberhart, in 1951, you really are immersed into the time and place. The heroine is married to the son of a very wealthy man. They have been separated for a while but she comes back to New York from Europe to see if they can reconcile. The fact that the wealthy father entrusts her with his money but does not entrust his son with any makes a potentially lethal situation.
This is a creepy mystery with a pervading sense of darkness and gloom but it isn’t heavy. We all know our heroine is in trouble but don’t know where it’s going to come from. It will leave you looking over your shoulder in dark rooms. The conclusion does not disappoint.
The creepy atmosphere and the setting are what makes this such a good read. There are great descriptions of New York City and the people who make up high society. I absolutely love the descriptions of the penthouse and country house that belong to the family. This is the kind of luxury and affluence that most of us never see. An interesting picture of the life of the uppercrust in the 40’s and 50’s.
Mignon G. Eberhart is truly an author worth revisiting.
This is a creepy mystery with a pervading sense of darkness and gloom but it isn’t heavy. We all know our heroine is in trouble but don’t know where it’s going to come from. It will leave you looking over your shoulder in dark rooms. The conclusion does not disappoint.
The creepy atmosphere and the setting are what makes this such a good read. There are great descriptions of New York City and the people who make up high society. I absolutely love the descriptions of the penthouse and country house that belong to the family. This is the kind of luxury and affluence that most of us never see. An interesting picture of the life of the uppercrust in the 40’s and 50’s.
Mignon G. Eberhart is truly an author worth revisiting.
February 1, 2018
Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews