March 24: The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow (1930)

[Susan]

Welcome to our March 24 group read of The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning, first published in 1930.

The Invisible Host is the first novel published by the husband and wife team of Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. The tale of murder was based on a facetious scheme to get rid of a neighbor whose raucous radio disturbed them day and night.

New Orleans, 1930. Eight guests are invited to a party at a luxurious penthouse apartment, yet on arrival it turns out that no one knows who their mysterious host actually is. The latter does not openly appear, but instead communicates with the guests by radio broadcast. What he has to tell his guests is chilling: that every hour, one of them will die. Despite putting the guests on their guard, the Host's prophecy starts to come horribly true, each demise occurring in bizarre fashion. As the dwindling band of survivors grows increasingly tense, their confessions to each other might explain why they have been chosen for this macabre evening-and invoke the nightmarish thought that the mysterious Host is one of them. The burning question becomes: will any of the party survive, including the Host . . . ?

The Invisible Host (1930) established one of the best-loved and most durable forms in classic mystery fiction. It was famously to reappear in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1939). How much Christie's novel is indebted to its predecessor is open to conjecture (and the subject is discussed in the new introduction, by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans). Whatever the verdict, readers will delight in The Invisible Host, an innovative and most unusual mystery from the golden age of crime fiction. It was adapted into a play, and a Hollywood movie as The Ninth Guest (1934).

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

[Susan]

I've meant to read this for ages. So glad we finally got around to reading it.

[Susan in NC]

Same here! I was very intrigued by the premise, wanted to see how the author handled it.

[Judy]

I've finished this now and I really liked it, despite not usually being a fan of serial killer novels - just brilliant! I saved Curtis Evans' introduction for the end and thought it was very good, but I'm glad I read it after the novel.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Susan]

Glad you enjoyed it so much, Judy :)

[Sandy]

Judy wrote: "I've finished this now and I really liked it, despite not usually being a fan of serial killer novels - just brilliant! I saved Curtis Evans' introduction for the end and thought it was very good, ..."

I suppose I'll heed your warning and save the introduction until after I read the book, but I'm annoyed. I like knowing about the history and the authors before reading.

[Judy]

Sorry, it may be OK to read it first, Sandy, but I prefer to read introductions afterwards. You could always start it and then stop if you think it is giving too much away, maybe? I do sometimes do that to get a bit of background.

[Susan]

I read the introduction before starting and can't recall any spoilers, if that helps?

[Judy]

Sandy and Susan, sorry to cause confusion - I was posting late at night and didn't make much sense, sorry! I've just looked back at the introduction and most of it is indeed background and there aren't any spoilers, but I was pleased to read it at the end because there are quite a lot of comparisons between this book and 'And Then there Were None', which make more sense after reading the book. I don't think it matters whether you read it before or after, anyway :)

[Susan in NC]

Understandable to be concerned, I am in a Book Pool group, and had a book plot revealed in a book i otherwise knew nothing about, ruined it! I tried, but ended up DNFing it, the suspense was ruined!

[Susan]

I find it's usually (not always!) books that are studied where introductions have a lot of info on plot, etc. I can understand that, but it makes you mindful of the edition/publisher of classics in particular.

[Vanessa]

I don't know what I was expecting, but I'm very pleasantly surprised by how camp this is. It really fits the mood I'm in.

[Judy]

I had one classic mystery spoilt before I read it by a character joking about the plot in the TV series Rosemary and Thyme - so annoying!

[Jan C]

I liked it. Possibly liked the second time around better than the first. It was so catty.

[Neer]

Curtis Evans' destroyed a few mysteries for me in his introduction. Grrrr Hate when that happens.

[Icewineanne]

I never read the intros because of spoilers

[Neer]

I read the intros after reading the books but after this experience I think I will follow your example and avoid them altogether. Really editors should be a little more careful about these things.