The Web She Weaves: An Anthology of Mystery and Suspense Stories by Women

520 Pages·2012·72.78 MB·English

by  Muller Marcia

s
i
&
An
Anthology of Mystery
W>men
Suspense by
Stories
Including Stories by
Marie Belloc Lowndes,
Edith Wharton, Katherine Mansfield,
Edna St.Vincent Millay,
55MSM
flotiiim
Margaret Millar, Shirley Jackson,
F^tricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates,
Many
R D. James, and Others
1 ted by
M A MULLER &
ARCI BILL PRONZir
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THE WEB SHE
WEAVES
&
An
Anthology of Mystery
Suspense Stories byWfomen
Edited and with an Introduction
by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
Except for the work ofa few legendary figures,
such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers,
mystery and suspense fiction isthoughtbymany
readers to be largely the domain of men. The
stories collected in The Web She Weaves should
put any such preconceptions to rest forever.
Spanning more than one hundred years of
mystery and suspense writing, theydemonstrate
a wide variety of subject matter, style, and ap-
proach, from Gothic horror to hypnotic psy-
chological suspense.
Some of the authors are well known within
the genre: Margaret Millar, Shirley Jackson,
Patricia Highsmith, P. D. James, Dorothy L.
Sayers, and Agatha Christie among them. Oth-
ers may seem at first to be surprising choices:
Edith Wharton, Katherine Mansfield, Edna St.
Vincent Millay, and Joyce Carol Oates, for ex-
ample. There are younger, less established, but
no less skilled writers as well: Celia Fremlin,
Susan Dunlap, Joyce Harrington, and Marcia
Muller, to name a few.
The Web She Weaves will appeal to everyone
who loves agood mysterystory,andparticularly
to those who wish to explore the contributions
of women to the genre. The stories have been
carefully chosen to represent the best of wo-
men's writing in the field of mystery and sus-
pense fiction over the past one hundred years.
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LIBRARY

THE WEB
SHE WEAVES

WEB
THE
SHE
WEifl/ES
An
Anthology of Mystery and
Women
Suspense Stories by
Edited by
MARCIA MULLER & BILL PRONZINI
William Morrow and Company, Inc.
New York 1983
—
Copyright © 1983 by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyany
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information
storageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthePublisher.Inquiriesshould
beaddressed toWilliam Morrow and Companv, Inc., 105 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y.
10016.
Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
The Web she weaves.
—
1. Detective and mystery stories, American Women
authors. 2. Detective and mystery stories, English
Women authors. I. Muller, Marcia. II. Pronzini, Bill,
PS648.D4W4 1983 813'.0872'089287 83-8288
ISBN 0-688-02453-x
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
First Edition
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10
BOOK DESIGN BY SALLIE BALDWIN
Grateful acknowledgment is extended to the followingfor permission to reprint:
"Postiche," by Mignon Eberhart. Copyright © 1935 byThe Butterick Company; copyright
renewed © 1962 by Mignon G. Eberhart. Reprinted by permission of Brandt & Brandt
Literary Agents, Inc.
"Suspicion," by Dorothy L. Sayers. From In the Teeth of the Evidence. Copyright ©
1940by Dorothy L. Sayers. Reprintedby permission ofA. Watkins, Inc.
"Harlequin's Lane," by AgathaChristie. Copyright © 1930by Dodd, Mead and Company;
renewed © 1957 by Agatha Christie Mallowan. Reprinted by permission ofHarold Ober
Associates, Inc.
"HisHeartCouldBreak," byCraigRice. Copyright© 1943byTheAmericanMercury,Inc.
ReprintedbypermissionofScottMeredithLiteraryAgency,Inc.,845ThirdAvenue,New
York, N.Y. 10022, agents for the estateofCraig Rice.
"Chinoiserie," byHelenMcCloy.Copyright © 1946byHelenMcCloy;renewed © 1977by
Helen McCloy. Reprinted by permission ofthe author.
"Good-bye, Miss Lizzie Borden," by Lillian de laTorre. Copyright © 1947by Lillian dela
Torre;renewed © 1974 by LilliandelaTorre McCue. Reprintedby permissionofHarold
Ober Associates, Inc.
"McGowney'sMiracle," byMargaretMillar.Copyright© 1954byHearstInternational,Inc.;
renewed © 1982by Margaret Millar. Reprintedby permissionofHarold OberAssociates,
Inc.
"St. Patrick's Day in the Morning," by Charlotte Armstrong. Copyright © 1959 by Davis
Publications, Inc. First published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by
permission of Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc.
"The Possibility of Evil," by ShirleyJackson. Copyright © 1965 by Stanley Edgar Hyman.
Firstpublishedin The Saturday Evening Post. Reprinted by permission of Brandt &
Brandt Literary Agents, Inc.
"TheSnail-Watcher," by PatriciaHighsmith. Copyright © 1964 by PatriciaHighsmith. First
published in Gamma Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and her
agent, Diogenes Verlag AG, Zurich, Switzerland.
"TheLockedRoom," byCeliaFremlin. Copyright © 1968byCeliaFremlin. Firstpublished
in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine as "From the Locked Room Upstairs." Re-
printed by permission of the author.
"The FallofaCoin," by Ruth Rendell. Copyright © 1975by Ruth Rendell. Firstpublished
in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and
Georges Borchardt, Inc.
"DoubleJeopardy," bySusan Dunlap. Copyright © 1978by Susan Dunlap. First published
inEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine as "Death Threat." Reprinted by permission of
the author.
"My Neighbor, Ay," by Joyce Harrington. Copyright © 1974 by Joyce Harrington. First
published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the au-
thor.
"Norman and the Killer," byJoyce Carol Oates. Copyright © 1965, 1966 by Joyce Carol
Oates. Reprinted by permission ofthe author.
"Cattails," by Marcia Muller. Copyright © 1983 by Marcia Muller. An original story pub-
lished by permission ofthe author.
"Great-AuntAllie'sFlypapers," byP.D.James.Copyright© 1978byFaberandFaber,Ltd.
First published in Verdict of 13. Reprinted by permission of the author and her
agents, International Creative Management, Inc.