Suspense

The scar on Betty Shaw's cheek tells a story she's not yet ready to tell. When she answers an advertisement for a companion to the wealthy Mrs. Atterbury, she hopes her past won't follow her to the opulent Long Island estate. But secrets have a way of finding each other. From the moment Betty crosses the threshold, something is wrong. The house is too quiet. The servants watch her too carefully. A murder has occurred nearby, and the shadow of it hangs over every polished corridor and hushed conversation. Betty senses she is being watched, studied, perhaps hunted. Her desperate need for security - for a place to belong - may have delivered her straight into danger. Ostrander builds suspense like a slow fuse, each chapter tightening the noose around her vulnerable heroine. This is psychological suspense before the term existed: a story about the terror of not knowing whom to trust, and the price of needing something badly enough to ignore the warning signs. For readers who enjoy vintage mysteries with real atmosphere and a heroine worth rooting for.