The House

by Hilda Lawrence

Isobel has returned to her family home, a monstrosity of a mansion, after spending 15 of her 21 years living in boarding schools. Her father, mentally and physically ill, is found burnt to death in his car soon after her return, and Isobel is left to give with her mother, a handful of servants and her father's mysterious dog, Tray. But something isn't right — the servants are terrified, her mother wanders the house late at night, Tray appears to be guarding Isabel (from what?), and strange lights are seen flickering in the upper windows when the house is meant to be empty.

Avon Classic Crime Collection #PN387.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Hilda Kronmiller Lawrence was a mystery writer. She worked in the clipping department of Macmillan Publishers, and as a reader to the blind. She published her fiction under her married name, Hilda Lawrence.

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book at only 107 pages, that is split into two parts (no chapters).

You Meet Isobel whose is portrayed as quite a naïve young girl in her early 20's, & her mother & father, as she returns home to the family estate after being away for most her her childhood at a boarding school. Her dad seems to be having a mental breakdown & her mum is trying to keep up appearances!

Nothing is what is seems, with her dad locking himself in his bedroom & going out for hours on end with his dog, until one night he leaves in his car & doesn't come back as his car is found to be burning in the local quarry.

The back history, slight tension building & setting the scene all happens in the first 56 pages of part 1. Then you hit part 2 & it gets ramped up to another level, with things moving, unexplained goings on happening with the dog etc...

Overall a good pallet cleanser, but I did find the ending a bit anti-climatic. Plus the world building was confusing, you had more of a country estate in the UK vibe, but then dollars where mentioned. You had the women behaving like the era of Jane Austen, yet you had motor cars & other modern references bought into the timeline!

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful vintage suspense

Hilda Lawrence always pleases. A lovely walk in my past. So glad these are being made digital. While not her best book, still entertaining.

[BeepsBoos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The House is well written, incredibly descriptive and intresting. The first half of the book had me hooked. I needed to know why the dynamics between the main charcters were so strained and what caused the tragedy that haunted the main charcter. However, during the second half I quickly became bored of the multiple page descriptions solely dedicated to the titluar Houses architecture. The ending felt a bit confusing as a result.

[Menia]

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