Crime fiction has many shapes. Taking Charlotte Armstrong’s Mischief as an example - the entirety of the novel’s action takes place in and around an adjoined hotel room where an absolutely unhinged woman is babysitting a 9-year-old girl. A series of missed connections and coincidences result in potentially the worst possible thing happening to a loving, pointedly positive family. Whether or not it happens is the core of Mischief’s tension.
Part of what impresses so much about this tension is that it is pulled off with a minimum of on-page violence or grotesquery. Much of Armstrong's work leans into lengthy and engaging dialogues and descriptions of facial expressions except for one knock-down prize fight in the latter half. We are so keyed into the potential “state of things” on the various fronts of the characters that the degree of suspense the novel pulls off is practically stomach-wrenching at times. Filmed as Don’t Bother to Knock with Marilyn Monroe, Mischief has aged remarkably well.
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This is pretty good suspense tale is awash in 1940’s sensibilities. It is not any period description that nails the time and place but instead the presentation of the hearts and minds of the characters. They are as trapped in their time and mindset as they are in the hotel where much of the story takes place. Every time I thought this story was just a light entertainment, the story lived up to the title Mischief and surprised me. They were not cheap surprises like a squirrel popping out of a cake but surprises derived from the characters strengths and weaknesses—allowing for a slow ratcheting of suspense a click at a time. The stakes seem modest but all the more credit for drawing the reader in. Liked the ending just as much as the rest—a marvelous ambivalence. Looking forward to seeing what else I can find by the author. ( )

I’d never heard of Charlotte Armstrong until someone recommended to me the Library of America women crime writers collection that this novel features in. Given the quality of this book, the number of books that Armstrong published, and the fact that many of them are available on Kindle Unlimited, I’m very glad to have made her acquaintance.
‘Mischief’ is a short, tight suspense novel about a troubled babysitter, her unfortunate charge and the people around them. It’s set over the course of a single evening and the pace spot on, with an air of menace throughout that makes you believe that anything could happen. What really stands out though is the believability of the characters and the skill with which they are drawn. The central family and their interactions with each other are beautifully done, but all the characters ring true. I liked it so much I’ve dived straight into another of Armstrong’s books, her Edgar award winner ‘A Dram of Poison’. ( )

An early psychological thriller that turns innocence on its head. It was good; reasonably gripping and well-paced, but it suffers for how many times this theme got used after it was published; evil babysitter.

Spoilers.

Modern readers will feel a tingle of dread as Peter and Ruth Jones go out for an evening, leaving their daughter in the care of Nell, the hotel elevator operator’s niece. Nell seems a little off, even to them, but in such a meek and mild manner we know she will go off the rails in a spectacular way. Ruth is slightly apprehensive, feminine intuition, mother’s instinct, whatever it is, Armstrong doesn’t belittle it even if Ruth as a character chides herself for being flighty.

And boy does she come unhinged. Her unmasking is done quite well. Not exactly subtle, but eerie and with a quality of the unknown; what is she capable of? Uncle Eddie muses about her having to come to live with him and his wife after an incident, leaving the reader to wonder what she’s done and why she’s been “sent away”.

More characters are introduced and for a time it’s unclear how Armstrong will inject them into the story. Lyn and Jed are going on a date. They have a fight and both flounce off into the night; Jed to his hotel (the very same one the Joneses are at) and Lyn to home. While sulking that he would have a date that night if it kills him (careful what you wish for), Jed sees Nell in room 807 from across the courtyard. After some pantomime he goes over with a flask and what starts out as a semi-illicit flirtation turns weird fast.

Nell has gone through all the Joneses stuff and put on Ruth’s jewelry, clothes, shoes and spilled her perfume. It's creepy in the extreme. She’s in high flirt mode with a touch of hilarity when Bunny appears; her charge. Jed is floored. With escalating menace Nell manages to get Bunny back into bed, but Jed is trapped and it’s going to get worse.

I won’t go into much more detail, but the way things go isn’t too much of a surprise. Nell is devious, violent and insane. Jed is scheming, cowardly, but wants to be a hero. Bunny catches the attention of more people in the hotel than is good for Nell’s scheme. People come knocking. Ruth and Peter are trying to have a good time, but Ruth’s inner warning system keeps rattling her and eventually she comes back to the hotel early. Shit really hits the fan.

Some of the side plots and inner monologues, especially Jed’s, get a little much at times. He talks to himself over and over about being the hero or taking a stand, but he never does. I did like the fight at the end though. Unexpected. Overall it’s a worthy book, but as I said, the basic plot has been copied a lot so it lacks the punch it must have had in 1950. ( )

Good story of an insane babysitter. ( )