Collected Millar: The Dawn of Domestic Suspense: Fire Will Freeze; Experiment InSpringtime; The Cannibal Heart; Do Evil In Return; Rose's Last Summer

About this book

Collected for the first time: Five novels that defined the domestic crime story and announced Margaret Millar as a writer for whom no subject was taboo. A grim locked room mystery doubles as brilliantly funny comedy; a nuanced portrait of a marriage rocked by paranoia and loneliness; an examination of a deeply flawed mothers psychologyand its deadly consequences; a chilling noir tale about the valueor lack thereofof a human life; and the quintessential Hollywood tale about an aging actress and the chaos that follows her unlikely demise. Humor politics chilling psychological insight and the outright macabre are all on display in these novels which were formative both for the author and the generations of writers who followed her. Fire Will Freeze (1944) A locked-room mystery in which a bus filled with ski enthusiasts breaks down in the middle a blizzard sending a mismatched group of strangers out into the night to find shelter from the storm. Experiment In Springtime (1947) A poignantly observed story of an unfortunately entered marriage a novel that scrapes away the veneer of domestic bliss to reveal the heartbreaks neuroses and dissatisfactions of the mythical post-WWII nuclear family. The Cannibal Heart (1949) A deeply unsettling depiction of a mother who both resents her special needs child and covets the neighbors young daughter. Do Evil In Return (1950) Perhaps Margaret Millars most controversial book a perfectly plotted noir that tackles abortion and the hypocrisy of the laws governing a womans body. Roses Last Summer (1952) In this quintessential Hollywood storyclever humorous and thoroughly Hitchcockiana faded actresss death sows chaos among a quirky set of characters.