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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Who's Calling? by Helen McCloy
3.0
‘The telephone rang.’
Archie Cranford, a young doctor, has recently become engaged to Frieda Frey, a night club singer. After he arranges to take Frieda to meet his mother Eve at Willow Spring, near Washington, Frieda receives a telephone call warning her not to go to Willow Spring:
‘All sorts of unpleasant things happen to people who go where they are not wanted.’
Frieda doesn’t think that she recognises the voice, although the person says they will see her if she is foolish enough to travel to Willow Spring. Only a handful of people know of her visit: Frieda is both puzzled and concerned.
Frieda and Archie travel to Willow Spring, where they stay with Archie’s mother and meet with Senator Mark Lindsay, his wife Julia and their son Ted, and Ellis Blount, the nineteen-year-old niece of the Lindsays. Chalkley Winchester V, one of Eve Cranford’s cousins is a late inclusion in the visiting party.
‘Have you ever heard of poltergeist phenomena?’
The phone calls continue, as do some other strange events and Frieda’s room is ransacked. Who is behind these events, and why? And then, a murder occurs. Dr Basil Willing, a psychiatrist who does
some work for the FBI, becomes involved. He explains that it is possible that the phone calls, the strange happenings, and the murder could all be the responsibility of someone with a double personality, a poltergeist, who has no idea that he or she is guilty. Imagine: each of the main characters is now wondering whether he or she might be the poltergeist.
Of course, once Dr Basil Willing works it all out, some of the earlier events make more sense. But I confess, I did not work it out before Dr Willing did.
This is the third Dr Basil Willing mystery I have read and enjoyed. While the ‘poltergeist’ theory may make less sense in 2022 than it did in 1947 when the book was first published, it adds to the suspense.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Archie Cranford, a young doctor, has recently become engaged to Frieda Frey, a night club singer. After he arranges to take Frieda to meet his mother Eve at Willow Spring, near Washington, Frieda receives a telephone call warning her not to go to Willow Spring:
‘All sorts of unpleasant things happen to people who go where they are not wanted.’
Frieda doesn’t think that she recognises the voice, although the person says they will see her if she is foolish enough to travel to Willow Spring. Only a handful of people know of her visit: Frieda is both puzzled and concerned.
Frieda and Archie travel to Willow Spring, where they stay with Archie’s mother and meet with Senator Mark Lindsay, his wife Julia and their son Ted, and Ellis Blount, the nineteen-year-old niece of the Lindsays. Chalkley Winchester V, one of Eve Cranford’s cousins is a late inclusion in the visiting party.
‘Have you ever heard of poltergeist phenomena?’
The phone calls continue, as do some other strange events and Frieda’s room is ransacked. Who is behind these events, and why? And then, a murder occurs. Dr Basil Willing, a psychiatrist who does
some work for the FBI, becomes involved. He explains that it is possible that the phone calls, the strange happenings, and the murder could all be the responsibility of someone with a double personality, a poltergeist, who has no idea that he or she is guilty. Imagine: each of the main characters is now wondering whether he or she might be the poltergeist.
Of course, once Dr Basil Willing works it all out, some of the earlier events make more sense. But I confess, I did not work it out before Dr Willing did.
This is the third Dr Basil Willing mystery I have read and enjoyed. While the ‘poltergeist’ theory may make less sense in 2022 than it did in 1947 when the book was first published, it adds to the suspense.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith