Beast in View

First edition (publ. Random House)

Beast in View is a Psychological Suspense-Horror thriller by Margaret Millar published in 1955 that won the Edgar Award in 1956 and was later adapted for an episode of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1964. It also made the list of The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time that was issued in 1995 by the Mystery Writers of America.

Plot

The story opens with a woman named Helen Clarvoe who gets a threatening telephone call from another woman, Evelyn Merrick. It becomes clear that Merrick knows much about her and, fearing for her life, Clarvoe hires a detective named Blackshear to investigate. Blackshear soon learns that Clarvoe and Merrick do in fact know each other, and have a long history together, although they haven't seen each other in many years. As Blackshear talks to people who've known them, people start dying. Thus begins a cat-and-mouse game between Blackshear, Merrick, and Clarvoe culminating in a meeting between the three in the hotel room where Clarvoe resides.