Fri 23 Apr 2021
An Archived Review by Gloria Maxwell: MARGARET MILLAR – Beast in View.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[8] Comments
MARGARET MILLAR – Beast in View. Academy Chicago, paperback, 1983. First published by Random House, hardcover, 1955. Bantam, paperback, 1956. Avon, paperback, date? Penguin, paperback, 1978. Carrol & Graf, paperback, 1999. Included in Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s (Library of America #269, hardcover, 2015). TV adaptations: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, 20 March 1964 (Season 2, Episode 21) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 19 January 1986 (Season 1, Episode 13). Also of note: Voted #79 on “The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time,” issued by the MWA in 1995.
In 1956 Beast in View was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel of the year. [For this Academy Chicago edition] Mrs. Millar has prepared a new introduction and afterword in which she reveals the effect this book had on her own personality as she wrote it.
Beast in View is a psychological suspense story that probes the innermost recesses of a murderer’s mind and that of his victims. To say much more would be unfair to potential readers. The story unravels like a sweater with a loose thread. The reader experiences a sense of being stalked, much as the victims do — leading to the solution of who Evelyn Merrick is and why she is persecuting a group of people who range from intimates to only casual acquaintances.
A classic crime novel in every sense of the word.
Editorial Comment: I have discovered online a site that quotes the first few opening lines. Here they are:
The voice was quiet, smiling. “Is that Miss Clarvoe?â€
“Yes.â€
“You know who this is?â€
“No.â€
“A friend.â€
“I have a great many friends,†Miss Clarvoe lied.
April 24th, 2021 at 9:41 am
Long on my wishlist.
April 24th, 2021 at 10:22 am
Used copies are not difficult to find. I don’t think I included all of the reprint editions up at the top of the review.
If this is the type of book you like to read, I’d suggest the Library of America edition. Here’s a brief summary of all four novels in it:
“From the 1950s here are Charlotte Armstrong’s Mischief, the nightmarish drama of a child entrusted to a psychotic babysitter, Patricia Highsmith’s The Blunderer, brilliantly tracking the perverse parallel lives of two men driven toward murder, Margaret Millar’s Beast in View, a relentless study in madness, and Dolores Hitchens’s Fools’ Gold, a hard-edged tale of robbery and redemption.”
April 24th, 2021 at 10:29 am
But here’s something strange. Gloria’s review specifically indicates she read an Academy of Chicago edition. When I went looking for an image of it last night to use in the review, not only could I not find an image, but I couldn’t find a single dealer selling that particular edition.
Same thing this morning. No copies to be found.
April 24th, 2021 at 1:01 pm
I see that the Kindle version is available for $4.99.
April 24th, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Thanks, Chuck. Very helpful!
April 24th, 2021 at 8:33 pm
This was adapted twice for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS in 1964 and again in the 1986 revival.
I wonder if people just held onto those Academy editions of Millar? They were very attractive and sturdy paperbacks.
April 24th, 2021 at 8:42 pm
I was away at college in 1964 and missed it then. When the revival came along, I asked myself, Why? and I missed it then too.
I’ll have to see if either can be seen online.
April 29th, 2021 at 10:12 am
Steve: the Academy Chicago publication is a little tricky: Academy Chicago was the “distributor” for this one: International Polygonics was the “publisher” (1983); ISBN: 0-930330-07-2 / 9780930330071. Archive.org has a picture of the typically stylish International Polygonics cover: https://archive.org/details/beastinview00marg
In any case, this edition does seem to be scarce.