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A review by bibliotess
Waltz into Darkness by William Irish
4.0
After I finished reading A Reliable Wife, I read a few of the reviews on Amazon.com. There were several reviews that said A Reliable Wife bears a strong resemblance to Waltz into Darkness and opined that Waltz into Darkness is better. I wanted to decide for myself. It's fascinating how two novels share the skeleton of a story and are still different. Waltz into Darkness is a noir mystery; A Reliable Wife has more literary aspirations.
A lonely man whose first love died several years ago looks for a wife through personal ads. He proposes marriage to one of his correspondents, and when his fiancee arrives, she is much more attractive than the picture she sent to represent herself. She claims this is because she wanted to be appreciated for herself, and not her appearance. The couple marries despite the initial deception. The bride's intentions aren't honorable, and trouble ensues. In both novels there is another man in the bride's life and poison eventually comes into play, but these points are handled very differently. Oh, and a canary. The brides each have canaries as pets.
When I first finished this book, I gave it four stars--I really liked it. But now, I have to say simply, "I liked it." The deliberate storytelling was very suspenseful and enjoyable. The chapters are short, sometimes only two pages, inviting you to read the book one nibble at a time. Before you know it, you've read far more and longer than you planned. The ending has a small measure of satisfaction, if disappointing and unbelievable. My biggest complaint about the book is that when people are shot, they bleed. A murder is committed in the middle of the book; the perpetrator is very nearly caught. The cover-up is discussed in detail, but there is never any mention of blood. It's never seen, it's never cleaned. I can't imagine how you can shoot someone and roll them up in a rug without there being blood on the rug. Perhaps I've seen too much CSI. I've seen many old movies where people get shot and manage not to bleed. I always notice. Still, it is quite a tense scene in the book.
If you like noir fiction, if you like a good thriller with short chapters, you will enjoy this book.
A lonely man whose first love died several years ago looks for a wife through personal ads. He proposes marriage to one of his correspondents, and when his fiancee arrives, she is much more attractive than the picture she sent to represent herself. She claims this is because she wanted to be appreciated for herself, and not her appearance. The couple marries despite the initial deception. The bride's intentions aren't honorable, and trouble ensues. In both novels there is another man in the bride's life and poison eventually comes into play, but these points are handled very differently. Oh, and a canary. The brides each have canaries as pets.
When I first finished this book, I gave it four stars--I really liked it. But now, I have to say simply, "I liked it." The deliberate storytelling was very suspenseful and enjoyable. The chapters are short, sometimes only two pages, inviting you to read the book one nibble at a time. Before you know it, you've read far more and longer than you planned. The ending has a small measure of satisfaction, if disappointing and unbelievable. My biggest complaint about the book is that when people are shot, they bleed. A murder is committed in the middle of the book; the perpetrator is very nearly caught. The cover-up is discussed in detail, but there is never any mention of blood. It's never seen, it's never cleaned. I can't imagine how you can shoot someone and roll them up in a rug without there being blood on the rug. Perhaps I've seen too much CSI. I've seen many old movies where people get shot and manage not to bleed. I always notice. Still, it is quite a tense scene in the book.
If you like noir fiction, if you like a good thriller with short chapters, you will enjoy this book.