Escape While I Can

 Escape While I Can (1944) by Melba Marlett

Elizabeth and her mother go to northern Michigan for a month's vacation while Elizabeth waits to hear results of her applications for teaching positions. Little does she know that she won't be leaving any time soon. They receive an invitation to dinner at the Brandons, the remaining members  of a once prominent and extremely wealthy family. Now the Brandons are reclusive--staying away from most neighbors and they normally don't take to strangers. But apparently Thayer, the sole male member of the family, has seen Elizabeth and taken quite a shine to her. 

Not long after the dinner, Elizabeth's mother, who has always had a weak heart, dies and the Brandons immediately take Elizabeth in--helping with funeral arrangements and giving the young woman a place to stay. And giving Thayer the chance to woo her. She is sure that she'll hear good news from her applications any day, but when no offers come she decides to marry Thayer. Thayer's pleasure in his new bride is short-lived and soon Elizabeth realizes that she has made a mistake. She finds the household difficult to understand. Effie, the eldest Brandon, seems to fear something (insisting that all doors be locked); Anne is often heard weeping and railing against Effie's strictures; Maggie, an adopted sibling, is treated poorly. Her husband is moody and they quarrel often. And his family is really quite odd--there have been strange deaths in the past, their dogs are now accused of attacking sheep, and now a little girl belonging to a vacationing family has disappeared from their beach. There is secrecy and fear hanging over the house. Elizabeth takes her last one hundred dollars and leaves her husband and the Brandons behind.

Eight years of successful teaching later, Effie writes to let Elizabeth know that Thayer has died of pneumonia and that she needs to come back so his affairs can be settled. As soon as she returns, the atmosphere makes its impression again and Elizabeth realizes there is still something to be feared on the Brandon property. Two people are attacked and there is a murder before Lieutenant Stark (who had investigated the missing child) can discover the truth behind all of the incidents in the Brandons' past.

So, one of the strongest parts of this story is Elizabeth. I really liked the fact that despite her naive plunge into matrimony, she was aware enough to realize that things were not right in the Brandon family and that things were not going to get better with her husband. So often in these stories we have the heroine staying in the uncomfortable or even threatening circumstances, thinking that it's all going to work out. 

The mystery is fair. There really wasn't much choice for culprit, so the real mystery is what really happened to the little girl. I was glad to find out that it wasn't as nasty as what we were led to believe even though I still didn't like what use the killer made of her death. But if you like a bit of midwestern melodrama, a smidgen of suspense, and stories about troubled families, then this is definitely the mystery for you. I found it to be a decent read by an author that I hadn't sampled before. ★★★

First line: Today I found in the back of my bureau drawer an old letter from Maggie Mitchell, and my first look at the fine, sprawling handwriting brought back last summer as clearly as the lifting of the lid of my rose jar brings back last June's Killarneys and Talismans and Ophelias.

Last line: Lieutenant Stark says I couldn't find a better place to live or one as convenient for him.
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Deaths = 13 (five natural; two car accident; one hanged; two shot; one poisoned; one hit with axe; one fell from height)