The Couple Next Door: Collected Short Mysteries

by Margaret Millar

A MASTER OF SUSPENSE Margaret Millar (1915-1994) was an internationally popular author whose well-crafted and sharply-written books pioneered the subgenre of psychological suspense. In a nearly 50-year writing career – which began in her native Canada and continued in Southern California – she earned the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar and Grand Master Awards, and the enthusiasm of such discriminating readers as Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, W.H. Auden and Truman Capote. Best-known for her novels, Margaret Millar also wrote a handful of short stories, tales much admired by peers (including her husband Kenneth Millar, who used the pseudonym Ross Macdonald) but never collected in book form. Now Macdonald’s biographer Tom Nolan has gathered and introduced those stories in this volume, which includes two all-but-unknown novellas from the 1940s. Here are half-a-dozen exhibits in evidence of the case made by English author and critic H.R.F. Keating, who “No woman in twentieth-century American mystery writing is more important than Margaret Millar.” The Couple Next Door is the 15th in the Crippen & Landru “Lost Classics” series. The cover design is by Deborah Miller.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

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 of San Felice or Santa Felicia.

Millar's books are distinguished by sophistication of characterization. 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 with an almost literary quality that transcends the mystery genre. Unusual people, mild societal misfits or people who don't quite fit into their surroundings are given much interior detail. In some of the books we are given chilling and fascinating insight into what it feels like to be losing touch with reality and evolving into madness. In general, she is a writer of both expressive description and yet admirable economy, often ambitious in the sociological underpinnings of the stories and the quality of the writing.

Millar often delivers effective and ingenious "surprise endings," but the details that would allow the solution of the surprise have usually been subtly included, in the best genre tradition. One of the distinctions of her books, however, is that they would be interesting, even if you knew how they were going to end, because they are every bit as much about subtleties of human interaction and rich psychological detail of individual characters as they are about the plot.

Millar was a pioneer in writing intelligently about the psychology of women. Even as early as the '40s and '50s, her books have a very mature and matter-of-fact view of class distinctions, sexual freedom and frustration, and the ambivalence of moral codes depending on a character's economic circumstances. Her earliest novels seem unusually frank. Read against the backdrop of Production Code-era movies of the time, they remind us that life as lived in the '40s and '50s was not as black-and-white morally as Hollywood would have us believe.

While she was not known for any one recurring detective (unlike her husband, whose constant gumshoe was Lew Archer), she occasionally used a detective character for more than one novel. Among her occasional ongoing sleuths were Canadians Dr. Paul Prye (her first invention, in the earliest books) and Inspector Sands (a quiet, unassuming Canadian police inspector who might be the most endearing of her recurring inventions). In the California years, a few books featured either Joe Quinn, a rather down-on-his-luck private eye, or Tom Aragorn, a young, Hispanic lawyer.
Sadly, most of Millar's books are out of print in America, with the exception of the short story collection The Couple Next Door and two novels, An Air That Kills and Do Evil In Return, that have been re-issued as classics by Stark House Press in California.

In 1956 Millar won the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, Best Novel award for Beast in View. In 1965 she was awarded the Woman of the Year Award by the Los Angeles Times. In 1983 she was awarded the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition of her lifetime achievements.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK/Short 65 (of 250)
HOOK=4 stars. Mr. Sands has retired from a life of crime investigation, and Charles and Alma Rackman now live next door. What will Mr. Sands discover? Will he miss companionship, or will he be happy that crime investigation is behind him? Or is it?
PACE=4: Fast for a short story.
PLOT=4: Several twists up this rating for an extra star.
PEOPLE=4: If you've read a few of Ross MacDonald's books, you may see aspects of Ross and/or his P.I., Lew Archer, in Mr. Sands. And the Rackman's may represent conflicts within the MacDonald/Millar relationship itself.
Place=3: A reference informs us Mr. Sands has worked in Toronto: Millar's husband, Ross, grew up in Canada. But other than this reference, this story could be set anywhere and is relatively average in atmosphere.
Summary: My overall rating is 3.8. I just wish my library had more of his author's work.

[e b · Rating 3 out of 5]

Millar was not a prolific writer of short stories and, while this collection is entertaining enough, it's not hard to conclude based on the evidence that it was better that she devoted the bulk of her attentions to novels.

Most of this volume is occupied with two novellas, written at the start of her professional career. The first is an AND THEN THERE WERE NONE variant featuring her series psychiatrist/sleuth Paul Prye. The second is a 39 STEPS variant WW2 espionage tale. Neither form is especially suited to her strengths as a writer, but they're not boring and don't overstay their welcome, with the latter maybe wrapping up too quickly. You've read far worse in both genres.

The three short stories which follow are the best pieces here, including two regularly anthologized tales, "The Couple Next Door" and "The People Across the Canyon". Excellent work, even if I wouldn't trade any of her novels from "Beast in View" on for them. The last story, "Notions", is almost a sketch, and the last thing she ever published.

I read these stories in the FIRST THINGS, LAST THINGS volume of the COLLECTED MILLAR anthologies, where 3 more very short pieces are added. The first is her very first published piece, from her high school yearbook, which was edited by her future husband Ken "Ross Macdonald" Millar. If I may drag myself into the picture, I feel very protective of this piece as I would edit the 1990 edition of that same school's yearbook many moons later. Anything we can do to make ourselves feel closer to our favourite writers!

[John Marr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margaret Millar is great

This is a collection of Margaret Millar's short mystery fiction.

Unfortunately, Margaret Millar didn't write many mystery short stories. Three, to be exact, leaving the editor of this collection with the a not inconsiderable amount of padding to do. The general intro, bigraphical essay, and introductions to each story are all lengthy, but good. What is not good is the two "forgotten" novellas MM wrote for the pulps in the 40s that turn a great chapbook into a crummy book. I mean, these things stink, especially "Last Day in Lisbon." There are some things that should have died with the pulp magazines, including much of their contents.

At leas the three short stories are great!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I began reading this several years ago, but did not like it at the time. I have no idea why not. Millar can be wickedly funny, and her mysteries compelling and challenging. A few have the 50's short story "twilight zone" sort of ending that I didn't care for, only because the total effect of the story is the twist ending.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Begins with two longish stories that are a little too frantic and light for what I expect from Millar. Still often beautiful turns of phrase, but basically in the cozy mystery vein. But the last four, briefer stories are prime dark material.

[Zackman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with most other reviewers. You're better off skipping the two novellas at the beginning. They're clearly the work of a beginning writer and they're still too long, despite being novellas.
The other 4 stories are excellent. The last one, "Notions," is more of a character sketch than a narrative, but I personally found it compelling. The other 3 stories are great examples of what's so fun about mid-20th Century suspense.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Alfred-Hitchcock-magazine type mysteries.