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The White Dress
Stepping from the plane at Miami, lovely Marny Sanderson has a growing sense of the unexpected. The feeling heightens when at a secluded pool on her employer's fabulous Biscayne Bay estate, she finds herself yielding to the arms of a handsome stranger. It rises to sheer terror when she is caught up in a strange encounter that can lead only to murder!
She was the perfect secretary — lovely to look at, easy to talk to, a model girl. But from the day that Andre Durant flashed into her office, cutting a gay path straight to her heart with his adoring smile... from that day her neat, safe world began to fall apart. In one week's vacation on the fabulous Florida island that was her boss' private estate, Marny's well-ordered life went topsy-turvey in a hurricane of turbulent emotion. She learned to know love, lust, horror, and fear... and she learned to face the fact that one of the small group of people she knew and loved was a killer — A KILLER WHO WANTED HER.
She was the perfect secretary — lovely to look at, easy to talk to, a model girl. But from the day that Andre Durant flashed into her office, cutting a gay path straight to her heart with his adoring smile... from that day her neat, safe world began to fall apart. In one week's vacation on the fabulous Florida island that was her boss' private estate, Marny's well-ordered life went topsy-turvey in a hurricane of turbulent emotion. She learned to know love, lust, horror, and fear... and she learned to face the fact that one of the small group of people she knew and loved was a killer — A KILLER WHO WANTED HER.
- GenresMystery
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1945
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 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 29, 2019
Tim Wales, owner of Wales Airlines, has had a busy few months readjusting the business to peacetime conditions. It’s time for a Miami vacation! He’s accompanied by Marny Sanderson, his right-hand woman (her actual job seems to be in public relations), and Andre Durant, a friend of Tim’s wife Judith who’d been in New York City looking for a job.
Meeting them are Judith Wales, Tim’s young and beautiful second wife, and Winnie Wales, his daughter by his first wife and not that much younger than Judith. Guests at the house include the older English gentleman Charlie Ingraham, a “perennial bachelor”, and soon Commander Bill Cameron, a Navy pilot who claims to be on a mission from Winston Churchill.
Marny is a bit puzzled by this sudden vacation; Tim had mentioned it to no one until the day of departure. But he’s not the only one with secrets. Marny is surprised in her room by Cecily Durant, Andre’s never before mentioned wife. Cecily seems to think Andre is leaving her for Marny, but Marny, despite Andre being excessively affectionate for their short acquaintance, knows nothing of this.
Cecily leaves after threatening Marny, supposedly departing from the island with her husband’s shady friend Laideau. But a short while later, Cecily is found on the grounds, murdered. Whodunnit? As it happens there is one witness, a pilot who was flying over at the island at the time. He’s quite clear that it was someone wearing a white dress.
That’d be helpful, except that there was only one woman on the island wearing white that night. Marny herself! She knows she’s not the murderer, but who else could it be?
Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996) was a fairly prolific mystery author with over forty novels and numerous short stories to her credit. Like pretty much every female American mystery author of the period, she was called “the American Agatha Christie.” This particular novel is a one-off, rather than part of a series.
The story isn’t a “fair play” but more “damsel in distress.” We don’t get to see Marny’s intelligence or business sense in action, as she spends a lot of time being paralyzed with fear or apprehension. The bulk of investigation falls onto the police, and on Bill Cameron. To be honest, I never warmed up to Bill, who’s a bit of an ass towards Marny, but he gets the woman in the end by being the hero. The solution to the case turns out to be a fact that’s mentioned “as you know” at the end but never even hinted at before.
There are black servants in the house, but they’re relatively unimportant to the plot. On the other hand, their portrayal isn’t particularly racist either.
Content note: suicide.
Those readers who like their male leads rough around the edges, taking command and being a bit condescending towards women may enjoy this a bit more.
Meeting them are Judith Wales, Tim’s young and beautiful second wife, and Winnie Wales, his daughter by his first wife and not that much younger than Judith. Guests at the house include the older English gentleman Charlie Ingraham, a “perennial bachelor”, and soon Commander Bill Cameron, a Navy pilot who claims to be on a mission from Winston Churchill.
Marny is a bit puzzled by this sudden vacation; Tim had mentioned it to no one until the day of departure. But he’s not the only one with secrets. Marny is surprised in her room by Cecily Durant, Andre’s never before mentioned wife. Cecily seems to think Andre is leaving her for Marny, but Marny, despite Andre being excessively affectionate for their short acquaintance, knows nothing of this.
Cecily leaves after threatening Marny, supposedly departing from the island with her husband’s shady friend Laideau. But a short while later, Cecily is found on the grounds, murdered. Whodunnit? As it happens there is one witness, a pilot who was flying over at the island at the time. He’s quite clear that it was someone wearing a white dress.
That’d be helpful, except that there was only one woman on the island wearing white that night. Marny herself! She knows she’s not the murderer, but who else could it be?
Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996) was a fairly prolific mystery author with over forty novels and numerous short stories to her credit. Like pretty much every female American mystery author of the period, she was called “the American Agatha Christie.” This particular novel is a one-off, rather than part of a series.
The story isn’t a “fair play” but more “damsel in distress.” We don’t get to see Marny’s intelligence or business sense in action, as she spends a lot of time being paralyzed with fear or apprehension. The bulk of investigation falls onto the police, and on Bill Cameron. To be honest, I never warmed up to Bill, who’s a bit of an ass towards Marny, but he gets the woman in the end by being the hero. The solution to the case turns out to be a fact that’s mentioned “as you know” at the end but never even hinted at before.
There are black servants in the house, but they’re relatively unimportant to the plot. On the other hand, their portrayal isn’t particularly racist either.
Content note: suicide.
Those readers who like their male leads rough around the edges, taking command and being a bit condescending towards women may enjoy this a bit more.
July 28, 2016
This part of my Florida library:
What a muddled mystery drowned in melodramatic fluff.
The story starts fine and rather briskly as most of the cast lands in Miami from New York. They make their way to the fictitious "Shadow Island" and soon the mystery begins. As the dozens and dozens of pages go by Eberhart does all she can to over indulge in repetition of everything else that has already gone on in the book. 75% of the last of the book has endless questions and wonderings. 35% of this book should have been edited out.
There are also waaaaay to many "moving shadows", "dark figures" and other mysterious references to, what are written as, potential threats. I can understand a few here or there observed by one character. However, there is a rash of characters with selective vision issues proclaiming seeing this or that.
The characters are poorly described. There is a reference to an airline owner, but we learn little else about him throughout the book. I've had similar problems with Eberhart's writing in the past. Thee worse case of this is an only described Navy man with business interests that we never know more about. What's worse is no one else does either. He appears out of no where, announces same, intent on meeting the airline owner and then throughout is treated as part of the family. Yet, little else is known.
The setting is loosely written. Once on the island that characters move little. So 95% takes place on the island. More below.
The Florida part: Eberhart shows little knowledge of Florida. Probably research involved a vacation for a few days. She does mention Collins Avenue, but the idea of a singular home on an island with a causeway and a hurricane runs through and access is not impeded by it has so much wrong with it, the book flies into science fiction territory.
I believe Eberhart was basing the island on Star Island, but she shows her lack of knowledge in that a causeway is never mentioned and the writing is of some road that crosses to the "island". Franky, i believe she really means a peninsula. However approached the setting of the island makes little sense.
Because this book was published in 1945 I can forgive the now trite use of a hurricane to a Flordia based story. However, Eberhart knows little of hurricanes. Seems she wrote based on other's observations. The storm is written more like a very strong Florida thunderstorm than hurricane.
One thing she does here I've never seen in a book before and that is the constant reference of Australian pines ads Casuarina trees, which is what most technically are.
The cover of this July 1976 edition reflects an artist given an assignment but not made to read the book. No Australian pines there. All palm trees. Also, despite the title of the book is in big letter, 'The White Dress", the artists paints more of a '70s pants-dress. Also, for some reason not mentioned in the book, is a male head with a very heavy beard.
Bottom line: I do not recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.
What a muddled mystery drowned in melodramatic fluff.
The story starts fine and rather briskly as most of the cast lands in Miami from New York. They make their way to the fictitious "Shadow Island" and soon the mystery begins. As the dozens and dozens of pages go by Eberhart does all she can to over indulge in repetition of everything else that has already gone on in the book. 75% of the last of the book has endless questions and wonderings. 35% of this book should have been edited out.
There are also waaaaay to many "moving shadows", "dark figures" and other mysterious references to, what are written as, potential threats. I can understand a few here or there observed by one character. However, there is a rash of characters with selective vision issues proclaiming seeing this or that.
The characters are poorly described. There is a reference to an airline owner, but we learn little else about him throughout the book. I've had similar problems with Eberhart's writing in the past. Thee worse case of this is an only described Navy man with business interests that we never know more about. What's worse is no one else does either. He appears out of no where, announces same, intent on meeting the airline owner and then throughout is treated as part of the family. Yet, little else is known.
The setting is loosely written. Once on the island that characters move little. So 95% takes place on the island. More below.
The Florida part: Eberhart shows little knowledge of Florida. Probably research involved a vacation for a few days. She does mention Collins Avenue, but the idea of a singular home on an island with a causeway and a hurricane runs through and access is not impeded by it has so much wrong with it, the book flies into science fiction territory.
I believe Eberhart was basing the island on Star Island, but she shows her lack of knowledge in that a causeway is never mentioned and the writing is of some road that crosses to the "island". Franky, i believe she really means a peninsula. However approached the setting of the island makes little sense.
Because this book was published in 1945 I can forgive the now trite use of a hurricane to a Flordia based story. However, Eberhart knows little of hurricanes. Seems she wrote based on other's observations. The storm is written more like a very strong Florida thunderstorm than hurricane.
One thing she does here I've never seen in a book before and that is the constant reference of Australian pines ads Casuarina trees, which is what most technically are.
The cover of this July 1976 edition reflects an artist given an assignment but not made to read the book. No Australian pines there. All palm trees. Also, despite the title of the book is in big letter, 'The White Dress", the artists paints more of a '70s pants-dress. Also, for some reason not mentioned in the book, is a male head with a very heavy beard.
Bottom line: I do not recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.
January 21, 2022
This over-complicated murder mystery fails on a number of levels. I didn’t like any of the main characters with the exception of the lead detective, a cop who questions suspects in front of other suspects. The lead male character is presumptuous and consistently gives poor advice to the lead female character. Those two fall in love for no obvious reason. The dialogue doesn’t ring true, particularly that of an English man who says “chap” far too often. I had a hard time finishing this book and cannot recommend it.
January 23, 2024
Major characters:
Tim Wales, president of Wales Airlines
Judith Wales, his second wife
Winnie Wales, his daughter by his first marriage
Marny Sanderson, his secretary/advisor, our protagonist
André Durant, friend of Judith
Cecily Durant, his estranged wife
Laideau, André's hulking friend
Charlie Ingram, a British neighbor
Commander Bill Cameron, USN
Locale: Shadow Island in Biscayne Bay, near Miami
Synopsis: No sooner had Marny Sanderson arrived from New York to Florida with her employer, Tim Wales, president of Wales Airlines, then she had a premonition of disaster. She had traveled with Tim and André Durant, a job seeker and house guest of Tim's elegant wife, Judith Wales. Judith and Tim's daughter, Winnie Wales, have been living in the Wales' Florida island home.
Once settled in to the home on Shadow Island, Marny swims in the pool and meets Commander Bill Cameron, who is desperate to meet with Tim om war-related issues. Then André appears, and to Marny's delight, they have a brief romantic encounter in the garden. Marny returns to her room, and finds a young stranger, who identifies herself as Cecily Durant, André's wife. Marny is shocked to learn he is married. Cecily brandishes a gun at Marny and threatens her for taking André from her. Cecily then gets scared off and runs out into the night. Marny follows, to find her shot dead, and Marny is now the prime suspect.
Review: I really enjoy Eberhart's middle-career mysteries, even if they follow a formula:
1. Girl meets Guy #1 who seems right for her but is really a cad
2. Girl meets Guy #2 is seems wrong for her but is really right
3. Someone gets murdered, and Girl is the suspect
4. Girl is saved by Guy #2
5. Happy ending
Even the setting is formula, Girl's upstairs bedroom has both an interior door and an exterior door to a balcony with a spiral staircase to the ground, where much slinking around occurs.
At first I thought millionaire Tim might be Guy #2, but when he is described as being short, fat, and sweaty I knew he was scratched off the list.
I had a bit of trouble getting a picture of Winnie. She must only be about 19 years old yet she has a prime "adult" set of responsibilities, despite having no visible means of support.
The surprise witness who shows up is a bit of a stretch, given the circumstances in which he observed a murder. He returns near the end in a re-enactment but that falls through. I thought the approaching hurricane would be a good plot element but ho-hum, not much there except a lot of wind.
Overall, an enjoyable page-turner, and the killer was a surprise; and the one I thought would be the killer turned out to be the Red Herring, so Mignon got one over on me again. The killer got their punishment in an unexpected way at the end which closed up the story cleanly.
For additional reviews indexed by author, please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
Tim Wales, president of Wales Airlines
Judith Wales, his second wife
Winnie Wales, his daughter by his first marriage
Marny Sanderson, his secretary/advisor, our protagonist
André Durant, friend of Judith
Cecily Durant, his estranged wife
Laideau, André's hulking friend
Charlie Ingram, a British neighbor
Commander Bill Cameron, USN
Locale: Shadow Island in Biscayne Bay, near Miami
Synopsis: No sooner had Marny Sanderson arrived from New York to Florida with her employer, Tim Wales, president of Wales Airlines, then she had a premonition of disaster. She had traveled with Tim and André Durant, a job seeker and house guest of Tim's elegant wife, Judith Wales. Judith and Tim's daughter, Winnie Wales, have been living in the Wales' Florida island home.
Once settled in to the home on Shadow Island, Marny swims in the pool and meets Commander Bill Cameron, who is desperate to meet with Tim om war-related issues. Then André appears, and to Marny's delight, they have a brief romantic encounter in the garden. Marny returns to her room, and finds a young stranger, who identifies herself as Cecily Durant, André's wife. Marny is shocked to learn he is married. Cecily brandishes a gun at Marny and threatens her for taking André from her. Cecily then gets scared off and runs out into the night. Marny follows, to find her shot dead, and Marny is now the prime suspect.
Review: I really enjoy Eberhart's middle-career mysteries, even if they follow a formula:
1. Girl meets Guy #1 who seems right for her but is really a cad
2. Girl meets Guy #2 is seems wrong for her but is really right
3. Someone gets murdered, and Girl is the suspect
4. Girl is saved by Guy #2
5. Happy ending
Even the setting is formula, Girl's upstairs bedroom has both an interior door and an exterior door to a balcony with a spiral staircase to the ground, where much slinking around occurs.
At first I thought millionaire Tim might be Guy #2, but when he is described as being short, fat, and sweaty I knew he was scratched off the list.
I had a bit of trouble getting a picture of Winnie. She must only be about 19 years old yet she has a prime "adult" set of responsibilities, despite having no visible means of support.
The surprise witness who shows up is a bit of a stretch, given the circumstances in which he observed a murder. He returns near the end in a re-enactment but that falls through. I thought the approaching hurricane would be a good plot element but ho-hum, not much there except a lot of wind.
Overall, an enjoyable page-turner, and the killer was a surprise; and the one I thought would be the killer turned out to be the Red Herring, so Mignon got one over on me again. The killer got their punishment in an unexpected way at the end which closed up the story cleanly.
For additional reviews indexed by author, please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
July 23, 2023
I feel deeply asleep in my wing chair several times while reading The White Dress. (Yes, I had overdone it the day before, but still.) This is the most preposterous Mignon Eberhart story I have read to date. Our lovely heroine, Marny, is as intriguing and adventurous as a wet noodle. Of course she leans heavily on the ever-present stalwart, strong, and silent male who is just like Sarah's Jim in Murder by an Aristocrat. You might think Marny is a budding young executive, but never fear. She will choose the mid-century womanly path. But back to the plot. The identity of the murderer is outrageous. The white dress is not even. . .well, never mind. The tropical Florida atmosphere is well-created and stifling, inside and out. This book will cure your insomnia, guaranteed.
April 25, 2025
Oh boy, the plot was kinda managed and the characters didn’t feel real.
I loved the description of the flowers and the house on Shadow Island but I just needed a stronger plot, romance, and characters. Bill Cameron is a mustard stain on a white shirt and I wish Marney wasent just a demure lil girl. It was a odd love story
I loved the description of the flowers and the house on Shadow Island but I just needed a stronger plot, romance, and characters. Bill Cameron is a mustard stain on a white shirt and I wish Marney wasent just a demure lil girl. It was a odd love story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2021
Romantic suspense set in Miami both before and during a hurricane. Good atmosphere, but Marny was a little too helpless for my taste, so I didn’t love it.
March 24, 2015
The White Dress is one of the most romantic-thriller-esque examples in Mignon Eberhart's work--at least of those I've read so far. The reader knows exactly what's in store from page one when Marny Sanderson steps off the plane in Miami.
She faced an unexpected and obscurely frightening thought; it was nonsense and yet it had a certain authority strong enough for Marny to pause a second, her hand on the railing, caught by an absurd compulsion to retreat, to turn around, re-enter the plane, go back to New York, go anywhere, but go. It was exactly as if she were afraid of something, as if some vague and unaccountable uneasiness, unrealized or, at least, certainly not acknowledged, had crystallized that moment and become fear.
Her feeling of uneasiness grows when at a secluded pool on her employer's luxurious Biscayne Bay island estate, she finds herself in the arms of a handsome stranger and then being kissed by the handsome and charming Andre Durant. It changes to terror verging on hysteria when she encounters an unknown woman who proves to be Durant's estranged wife. Her sense of foreboding is proved right when all events lead to a single conclusion--murder! Her well-ordered life--the life of the perfect secretary, devoted to her her job--is turned upside down...she learns about love and lust, horror and fear. And she learns that behind one of the familiar faces on the small island lurks the heart of a killer.
I generally like Mignon Eberhart--but I prefer the stories with her recurring characters Sarah Keate & Lance O'Leary or Susan Dare to her stand-alone romantic thrillers. Not that the thrillers are bad; they're just not my particular cup of tea. This one is a good example of the type--plenty of romantic tension, lots of suspicion to go around, and an effort to put our heroine on the spot and frame her up for murder. A decent read for me at ★★★ and I'd bet that those who like their mysteries with a romantic-suspense twist would rate it higher.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
She faced an unexpected and obscurely frightening thought; it was nonsense and yet it had a certain authority strong enough for Marny to pause a second, her hand on the railing, caught by an absurd compulsion to retreat, to turn around, re-enter the plane, go back to New York, go anywhere, but go. It was exactly as if she were afraid of something, as if some vague and unaccountable uneasiness, unrealized or, at least, certainly not acknowledged, had crystallized that moment and become fear.
Her feeling of uneasiness grows when at a secluded pool on her employer's luxurious Biscayne Bay island estate, she finds herself in the arms of a handsome stranger and then being kissed by the handsome and charming Andre Durant. It changes to terror verging on hysteria when she encounters an unknown woman who proves to be Durant's estranged wife. Her sense of foreboding is proved right when all events lead to a single conclusion--murder! Her well-ordered life--the life of the perfect secretary, devoted to her her job--is turned upside down...she learns about love and lust, horror and fear. And she learns that behind one of the familiar faces on the small island lurks the heart of a killer.
I generally like Mignon Eberhart--but I prefer the stories with her recurring characters Sarah Keate & Lance O'Leary or Susan Dare to her stand-alone romantic thrillers. Not that the thrillers are bad; they're just not my particular cup of tea. This one is a good example of the type--plenty of romantic tension, lots of suspicion to go around, and an effort to put our heroine on the spot and frame her up for murder. A decent read for me at ★★★ and I'd bet that those who like their mysteries with a romantic-suspense twist would rate it higher.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
February 12, 2009
The is another combo mystery/romance from the 1940's. It takes place on an island off the causeway to Miami Beach at the home of a wealthy business man. His two murders take place on the island, and there are several suspects. It is written mostly from the point of view of the woman who discovered the murders and could easily have committed them. Of course, she didn't, and is in danger. All ends well.
August 10, 2010
Just ok - great descriptions about a dog but the story overall didn't hold up.
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