Fair Warning

By Mignon G. Eberhart

Trapped in an evil man's house, a young wife searches for an escape.

Though she can't admit it to anyone, the day of her husband's car accident is one of the best days in Marcia Godden's short life. After three years of marriage to Ivan, she has seen his darkest side, and now his very footsteps are enough to make her shudder. A guilty thrill goes through her when she hears of his accident, only to be replaced by terror when she learns that her husband is going to live.

For four glorious, peaceful weeks, Ivan remains in the hospital. In the relief of this temporary freedom, Marcia confides in her neighbor, cheerful, handsome Robert Copley, and soon falls in love with him. Not long after her husband's return from the hospital, Marcia finds Ivan stabbed in the chest, and police suspicion falls on her. To save herself from prison, she must prove herself innocent of the murder of the one man she most wanted dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784084400

Mignon G. Eberhart

Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996) wrote dozens of mystery novels over a nearly six decade-long career. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, she began writing in high school, trading English essays to her fellow students in exchange for math homework. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University, and in the 1920s began writing fiction in her spare time, publishing her first novel, The Patient in Room 18, in 1929. With the follow-up, While The Patient Slept (1931), she won a $5,000 Scotland Yard Prize, and by the end of the 1930's was one of the most popular female mystery writers on the planet. Before Agatha Christie ever published a Miss Marple novel, Eberhart was writing romantic crime fiction with female leads. Eight of her books, including While the Patient Slept and Hasty Wedding (1938) were adapted as films. Made a Mystery Writers of America grandmaster in 1971, Eberhart continued publishing roughly a book a year until the 1980s. Her final novel Three Days for Emeralds, was published in 1988.

Reviews for Fair Warning

[merrymary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting murder mystery. Very atmospheric, with a brooding house and a vaguely evil husband whose satanic influence is never spelled out but fairly oozes from the page. The characters are sharply defined: a sweet young wife trapped and crushed by the evil, and a stalwart young man who loves her enormously but not too wisely. A secretive malicious butler, a kindly but distant doctor, a rigid and enigmatic sister, a loyal but alcoholic cousin. Set in Chicago between the wars, the story brings to life a certain upper layer of society that I don't think exists anymore. Loved it. Recommended.