The Listening Walls

Product Description Wilma Wyatt died when she hit the pavement - on that, and on nothing else, the eyewitnesses agree. Now her body lies lifeless in the street outside her Mexico City hotel, but a story of blackmail, missing persons and murder, stretching all the way to San Francisco, is only just beginning. Back in California, private detective Elmer Dodd looks for answers, but this is a mystery that grows more twisted at every turn, and blood will be spilled again before he gets to the truth.The Listening Walls is a suspenseful masterpiece about corrupted love, from a master of American noir. Review Unfairly forgotten...[Millar] writes more psychologically complex characters than Christie, but uses the same bag of tricks and has great surprise endings -- Alex Michaelides ?Guardian Book ClinicDemonstrates her art at its beautifully tricky best... [Readers] will be in for a stunning surprise ?Sunday TimesMiss Millar knows how to make her story-line twist like a snake ?TLSA psychological puzzle-box ?Weekly StandardIn the whole of crime fiction's distinguished sisterhood, there is no one quite like Margaret Millar ?GuardianThere are many suspicious circumstances and much misdirection before the end, which comes with a major twist in the final line... Millar is a fine writer... This one gave me hours of pleasure ?Harriet DevineStunningly original ?Val McDermidOne of the most original and vital voices in all of American crime fiction ?Laura Lippman, author of 'Sunburn'Praise for Vanish in an Instant ?__Clever plot, sad characters and a powerful atmosphere ?The TimesA brilliant psychodrama that has a triple-whammy ending... exhilarating ?Evening StandardCrime writing of a rare order -- Barry Forshaw ?GuardianIt doesn't get more noir than this ?Daily MailRevived American classic from 1952 conjures up images from Edward Hopper paintings with characters that keep secrets from each other... The terse prose pushes the story along to a shock reveal ?Sunday Times Crime ClubThis subtle, psychological crime thriller crackles with tension and keeps you guessing until the end... A hypnotic novel... Ideal fireside reading ?The LadyWhen you read Vanish in an Instant you wonder why it's been out of print and forgotten for so long, Millar is a fine writer and this novel is a well-honed thriller that will appeal to any serious noir fan... damned good ?Nudge NoirNo woman in twentieth-century American mystery writing is more important than Margaret Millar ?Dorothy B Hughes, author of 'In a Lonely Place'Mrs Millar doesn't attract fans, she creates addicts -- Dilys WinnShe writes minor classics ?Washington PostVery original ?Agatha ChristieMargaret Millar can build up the sensation of fear so strongly that at the end it literally hits you like a battering ram ?BBCShe has few peers, and no superior in the art of bamboozlement ?Julian Symons, author of 'The Colour of Murder'Millar was the master of the surprise ending ?Independent on SundayOne of the greatest this country has ever produced ?Globe and MailMargaret Millar is surely one of late twentieth-century crime fiction's best writers, in the sense that the actual writing is her books, the prose, is of superb quality. On almost every page of this one there is some description, whether of a physical thing or a mental state, that sends a sharp ray of extra meaning into the reader's mind. ?H.R.F. KeatingMargaret Millar was one of the pioneers of domestic suspense, a standout chronicler of inner psychology and the human mind. Vanish In an Instant is a perfect gateway to her fiction, after which you'll devour so many more of her classic novels. ?Sarah Weinman, author of 'The Real Lolita' and editor of 'Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 50s'Margaret Millar is ripe for rediscovery. Compelling characters, evocative settings, subtle and ingenious plots - what more could a crime fan wish for?