Safe Return Doubtful

British Literature – published 1959

First published in 1959, this is a slow-burning psychological mystery that blends relationships in the family with suspense, highlighting the complexity of human relationships.

The unflappable Meg is summoned from London by telegram by her older sister, Isabel, to a typically English seaside town where she is on holiday with her family. It isn’t help with the two young boys Isabel is after though, rather an issue with their much older sister, Mildred, who is also on holiday, and renting a nearby cottage. Mildred is concerned that her first husband, Paul, is loose and after her, having spent the last 15 years in prison for bigamy and plotting to murder Mildred.

Its an interesting story of burgeoning paranoia, growing to a crescendo that the reader knows will end badly. The telling of the tale seems laboured at times, but in the end is justified by a terrific last few pages.

I’ve read four books by Fremlin now, and enjoyed them all, Appointment With Yesterday the most. I read that she is compared to Patricia Highsmith, which I think is unfair. Highsmith’s writing is much darker; Fremlin’s style is much more English, with manners and etiquette playing a key role. Its a sort of domestic noir.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5