The Horizontal Man

by Helen Eustis

Book Overview

A poet on the faculty of an Ivy League school is found murdered, setting off ripple effects of anxiety, suspicion, and panic in this Edgar Award-winning classic from 1946.

The Horizontal Man was Helen Eustis's only crime novel, and she won an Edgar Award for it, combining a wildly disparate set of elements into an enduringly fascinating work. In its way it is a classical whodunit that stands comparison with old-school practitioners...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1598536311
• ISBN13: 9781598536317
• Release Date: July 2020
• Publisher: Library of America
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.8" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Engrossing for 99% of the way

PLOT: When a young teacher at a college for women is brutally slain, a student becomes the focus of the investigation. Her confession seems to clinch the deal. But another student teams up with a reporter when she feels the accused student (who seems to be having a nervous breakdown) didn't kill anyone. Suspects aren't too many in a small group of academics, each with an attache case full of idiosyncrasies and secrets. REVIEW: Certainly an easy book to read, with some well-thought out characters, the story zips along from the murder on page 2. Back when this was written the twist was probably more of a surprise, so I felt a little let down at the very end. Plus I thought a few threads begun in the last chapters were left hanging. Not a masterpiece, but still enjoyable.

Why didn't she write more

Apart from who killed Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, this whodunnit has the best trick on a reader I have ever read. Strangely out of print, the book shows the enormous potential that Helen Eustis had as a writer. I wish she had written more of these enjoyable novels.