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Dangerous to Know
For years, Hermione has been oppressed by her husband, Walter. She has become his domestic slave, forced to account for every penny of her housekeeping allowance and forced to submit to him whenever he demands his conjugal rights. Then Walter's desire to dominate women leads to murder.
268 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
15 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Yorke
94 books49 followersMargaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 31, 2015
I had never read a book by this author when I came upon a copy of Dangerous to Know by Margaret Yorke. The story focuses on Hermione Brown, the abused wife of Walter. To look at them you would think they were your quiet neighbors next door. Walter Brown didn't begin to hit his wife Hermione until after their two daughters had grown up and left home, but throughout their marriage he has enjoyed controlling her life, relishing opportunities to taunt her and see her broken. We soon discover that Walter is secretly visiting prostitutes in London, where if he gets rough, it's only what they deserve. He doesn't notice that Hermione is developing her own secrets. She finds a job cleaning houses two afternoons a week and meets a friend she can talk to. Hermione begins to rebel against Walter's scrutiny and humiliating comments which leads to a dangerous showdown.
This story builds slowly but I thought it was very reminiscent of Hitchcock in the way it unfolded. I would certainly give another of her books a try.
This story builds slowly but I thought it was very reminiscent of Hitchcock in the way it unfolded. I would certainly give another of her books a try.
August 27, 2024
This was my birthday present 13 years ago! It was only three days ago that I pulled it out of my bookshelf on a sudden whim. I was not familiar with the author which was one of the reasons why I didn't start reading it earlier. It's a small book. It gives a scary account of oppressions happening behind closed doors in a family which is seen as plain and simple by neighbours. It's different from the post-crime investigation that I am used to reading in crime books. This book takes its time to introduce the characters properly, their thoughts and current predicaments. I was almost halfway through it when the sense of suspense started. The middle chapters of this book are page turners. I found myself reading very fast to know what happens next. The language is plain and easy to cruise through. It seems I am very much used to the narration in the Harry Potter books where the point of view is almost always Harry. And also of Dan Brown where each chapter dedicates the point of view to a single person. In this book, as small as a paragraph itself has thoughts of multiple people. Maybe most books are like this and I, having read very few authors have forgotten about such narration.
The author gives uninteresting details of support characters and some of them have no bearing on the main plot. The reader would feel more so towards the end and I felt the last chapters were a drag. The book ends with a small message of social responsibility to the reader. Overall it's a good read. I would give it a 3.5 if I could.
The author gives uninteresting details of support characters and some of them have no bearing on the main plot. The reader would feel more so towards the end and I felt the last chapters were a drag. The book ends with a small message of social responsibility to the reader. Overall it's a good read. I would give it a 3.5 if I could.
October 19, 2019
A serviceable suspense novel that takes you into the mind of a cowed woman and her murdering bully of a husband. It was published in 1993. I certainly hope times have changed in the British legal system, but at least at the time, the novel suggests that abused women who killed their husbands in self-defense were still subject to harsh treatment and judgment in the eyes of the law.
I liked the prose tone of the novel; Yorke's writing reminds me of the stories of Ruth Rendell, but the structure of the novel is nowhere near as good. The plot is a little bit off, and the book doesn't fully deliver on its promise. The climax of the story comes well before the end, and it's unclear why the novel continues. There's a bit of a twist at the end, but the payoff is pretty low.
This is the only one of Yorke's books I've read. It was intriguing enough that I'd check out one or two others.
I liked the prose tone of the novel; Yorke's writing reminds me of the stories of Ruth Rendell, but the structure of the novel is nowhere near as good. The plot is a little bit off, and the book doesn't fully deliver on its promise. The climax of the story comes well before the end, and it's unclear why the novel continues. There's a bit of a twist at the end, but the payoff is pretty low.
This is the only one of Yorke's books I've read. It was intriguing enough that I'd check out one or two others.
October 11, 2018
I remember reading this novel around the age of ten or so. The character of Walter Brown scared the living daylights out of me back then. Does he have the same effect on me today? Yes and no. Creeps like Water Brown exist and it's good to be reminded of that. However, the distinctly dated feel of the novel blunts the edge off his dictatorial, twisted a$$. I don't think anyone today would tolerate the guy more than 10 minutes before getting a restraining order against him.
December 3, 2021
I really enjoyed the previous two Patrick Grant books I had read, both set in English villages and centred on a tight group of characters.
This one was a real disappointment though. It was disjointed, confusing and had far too many characters. I really didn't care who had done it, which was just as well as the ending was very confusing.
This one was a real disappointment though. It was disjointed, confusing and had far too many characters. I really didn't care who had done it, which was just as well as the ending was very confusing.
March 5, 2022
This was a really good book to read on the plane. The story was interesting enough to keep my attention, yet easy enough to follow that outside distractions weren't an issue.
I wasn't expecting the twist at the end and it wasn't necessarily needed, it seemed to provide a final closure on all of the characters.
I wasn't expecting the twist at the end and it wasn't necessarily needed, it seemed to provide a final closure on all of the characters.
January 2, 2019
Disturbing, compelling.
September 1, 2023
Dangerous to Know (Review)
Brilliant, as always from Ms Yorke. Great characters and storyline, a real who done it with a twist !!
Highly recommended !!
Brilliant, as always from Ms Yorke. Great characters and storyline, a real who done it with a twist !!
Highly recommended !!
September 11, 2015
Oh, hell NO!!!!...Uh-uh...not even going to try to finish it. Less than 50 pages in and I already can't stand Hermione. Am I supposed to feel sorry for her because her husband controls and abuses her? Well, I do NOT!!!! Hermione meets another woman (something tells me they will become friends later on because that other woman is just as pathetic!!!!) Yeah....not interested at all to find out what happens next.
September 16, 2009
I found this little book at my Aunt's cabin this summer and found out my mom and loaned it to my aunt; what a fun find! I really liked this book. It's funny even though it's about a very unfunny subject. The ending is much more serious than the first 3/4s of the book. I thought it was very enjoyable and definetly recommend this. I would read more Margaret Yorke based on this book
December 4, 2016
This was a pretty lame mystery. There was little mystery and lots of repetition of the same story line. The characters were extreme, the evil husband was really evil, the meek wife was really meek. It seemed like the purpose of the book was to moralize about sexual brutality but the characters were so extreme it didn't really resonate.
June 3, 2011
I'd give this one 3 and 1/2 stars as it was fairly interesting. I found it not up to the usual par by Yorke. The ending was definitely a twister. I notice most of her novels deal with some sort of abuse or excessively meek women.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews