PHANTOM LADY by Cornell Woolrich

Finished Fr 9/29/17

I read almost the entire last third of the book in one 2 1/2 hour sitting on the couch- just had to know what happened!

One of my ancient paperbacks and I first completed it on Su 5/22/94 and in pencil, scrawled across the flyleaf is, 'Absolutely Wonderful!'

The author is a the epitome of Noir and there is an excellent introduction to the book written by Francis M. Nevins Jr. He explains the genre and tells about the author's rather tortured life. Woolrich (he released this novel in 1942 under the pen name, William Irish) was a closeted homosexual and lived with his mother for a large portion of his life. He died in 1968 after he lost a leg due to complications of gangrene. 

NOTES:

Scott Henderson- the protaganist

Marcella Henderson- Scott's murdered wife; strangled with his tie

Carol Richards- Scott's girlfriend and the loyal, love of his life. She is instrumental in freeing him from jail.

Burgess- the cop that believes that Scott didn't do it.

John Lombard- Scott's 'true friend'. Scott calls him in South America and he returns to help Scott catch the killer, but he is the real murderer.

The Phantom Lady- her name is never revealed and she was beginning to lose her mind on the evening that Scott and her shared a meal and a night at the theater. She is committed to a mental asylum.

2 Additional Murders-

The woman who created the copy of the orange hat

The blind beggar that was burned accidentally by the Phantom Lady. She puts her cigarette into his begging cup and burned the man. This guy, however, could actually see and his act was a scam. Lombard trips him and then breaks his neck in the beggar's rooming house.

SUICIDE- Cliff, the jazz drummer at the theater. He was enthralled with the Phantom Lady on the evening of the show, and he takes Carol Richards to a marijuana party when she's trying to find out if he can identify the Phantom Lady. He slashes his wrist after a night of excess on the deadly hemp plant.

ACCIDENTAL CAR ACCIDENT-
Carol tails the doorman who witnessed Scott and the Phantom Lady on the night of their encounter. Carol so unnerves the man that he runs into the street and is run over by a speeding.

Chapter 23 is the final chapter in the book- 'One Day After The Execution'. Burgess goes back and details exactly what happened and how it was done. I found this to be a little on the Agatha Christie side, but, in this case, it worked.

I'd read anything by Woolrich or his various pen names.