Mon 13 Jun 2016
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: MARGARET MILLAR – Fire Will Freeze.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
William F. Deeck
MARGARET MILLAR – Fire Will Freeze. Random House, hardcover, 1944. Dell #157, mapback edition, 1947. Signet P3101, paperback, February 1967. International Polygonics Library, paperback, 1987.
In a mental letter to the Messrs. Abercrombie & Fitch, Miss Isobel Seton writes: “Because one of your irresponsible clerks did not prevent me from buying a pair of skis, I am sitting here in what these damned Canadians call a Sno-bus, which means a bus that meets a Sno-train and conveys one to a Sno-lodge. I am marooned in the wilds of Quebec in a raging Sno-storm.”
That’s not the worst. When the Sno-bus driver gets out ostensibly to check a tire chain, he abandons the bus and its occupants. Trying to follow him, they discover a house, from which they are shot at and which contains the dotty Miss Rudd. Miss Rudd likes to cut up things, but would she have cut her favorite cat’s throat? And who would have expected, despite the presence of the mostly odd former occupants of the bus, two corpses?
Amid the laughter, you probably will find yourself casting worried glances over your shoulder.
June 13th, 2016 at 10:10 pm
I’ve read this one. It was a long time ago, but Bill’s review nails it. He could get as much of the essence of a mystery novel into a 200 word review as anyone I’ve ever known.
June 14th, 2016 at 5:37 pm
Good review, piquing the interest even if I have read it. Millar in an uncharacteristically lighter suspense vein in some ways.
I keep thinking this was adapted as an episode on an anthology series. I know Karloff’s THRILLER did another Millar, did they do this one too?
June 14th, 2016 at 8:06 pm
ROSE’S LAST SUMMER was the one done for THRILLER. BEAST IN VIEW was done for HITCHCOCK. This one ought to have been done by someone, but it never was, as far as I can find.
June 14th, 2016 at 9:03 pm
After I posted this it dawned on me what the synopsis recalled, an episode of SOUTH PARK where the school bus is stranded in a blizzard and the driver goes off and doesn’t come back.
That has to be a first of sorts on here.
June 14th, 2016 at 10:42 pm
It Is the first time that SOUTH PARK has been mentioned on this blog, I can tell you that.