Tense mystery thriller from the 1930s that sets off at pace with a new maid settling in at an old house in the country, finding out about a series of recent murders as well as historical crimes, and a bunch of (perhaps rather cliched to modern eyes) characters on both below and above stairs. Whilst there are lot of stereotypes, the heroine is rather pluckier than she initially appears, and faces the the threat of a killer on the loose with some confidence despite a series of coincidences leaving her increasingly exposed in the house on a dark and stormy night.

Really good fun, some eyebrow raisers from a 90 year perspective but that’s to be expected. Good tense thrills.

Golden Age mysteries are incredibly special and no matter how hard contemporary authors try, most just cannot attain the same atmosphere and gorgeous writing. Whenever I see anything by Ethel Lina White at used book sales, I scoop it up without even reading the synopsis. She is definitely in the same class as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, E. C. R. Lorac, Anthony Berkeley, and so on. Originally written in 1933, it is the epitome of the perfect gothic mystery and is drenched in atmosphere and suspense. I could not possibly enjoy this more than I did.

The Summit is a deliciously creepy manor complete with an eccentric family, (dis)loyal household staff, medical professionals, suspicious glances, and secrets galore. Murder happens, of course, and red herrings are part of this perfect package. I happily got tangled up in the story and didn't want it to end. The pace of the first half is slower than the second but it set things up beautifully. And the ending was as fabulous as expected. The female main character, Helen, was young, impressionable and naive but I quite liked her because of it. I could practically hear creaking stairs, doors and swishing skirts. I was right there.

Whether you are new to this genre or a fan of many years, this novel is unmissable. I loved, loved, loved it!

Creepy and mysteries. It reads like a Hitchcock psychological thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I would recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery and suspense.

(4.5 rounded up) Ooooh, I had fun with this one. This is a reprint of a book from the 1930’s about a young woman working at an isolated manor who is being stalked. There have been murders happening near the estate Helen, our main character, is working at, and slowly, Helen realizes she is in danger. Her boss locks Helen, himself, and the other members of the household in the house as a means of protecting them from this outside menace. But of course, people start dying. God, I love gothic fiction. I love stories set at isolated manors, with some type of danger present. The writing is eerie and dripping with dread and I liked the main character. I will say, this is a slow starter! I’m chill with that because I feel like it’s scene-setting and really adds to the overall ambience, and then the second half is much more intense. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I was fine with the pacing. Very into this! I really love the mysteries that Pushkin vertigo has been reprinting/translating.

definitely a bit of a classic. cool writing, although it begins a bit weakly, it becomes much better. thanks for the ARC, netgalley and pushkin. 4 stars.

This was a very pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much from this book, and really just thought it was going to be a pretty basic, early 20th century murder mystery a la Agatha Christie. And while that's exactly what this was, I think it was much more enjoyable than others of the genre. The tension and suspense was very well done. There were moments that I honestly felt a little scared. The raging storm, the slow disappearance of characters, and the main character's own imagination all added to an incredibly spooky atmosphere. It was also great that the entire story took place over one evening. I think it created a sense of urgency--that the later it got in the night, the closer the characters were to their end, if only they could just make it to daybreak.

However, I do have to say that the characters were unbearable. They were all very weird caricatures of what real people would be like. The main character, Helen, was so stupid and naive that it <spoiler>was really a miracle that she survived. Although I guess it wasn't really her doing, it was all thanks to old Lady Warren</spoiler>. Old Lady Warren was a crazy almost inhuman crotchety old woman, which did add to the tension, but got a bit ridiculous at times. And then Nurse Barker, while definitely a product of the times, was just a bitter woman-hating woman. I would almost rather she wasn't in the story at all.

I think towards the end, the characters got a bit too grating and the story was dragging out a bit much, but I did eventually really liking the ending. It was a great resolution and a very interesting full-circle moment.

A masterful display of suspense and red herrings, The Spiral Staircase—originally published in 1933—reminds me that sometimes the classics just know how things should be done.

Soaked in dreary atmosphere and tantalizing macabre, the story follows its female protagonist’s increasingly dire situation, as everyone around her is either inadvertently incapacitated or highly untrustworthy. Even though the setup reads as a "cozy mystery" by today’s standards (one night in a household of archetypal characters), the writing keeps the mood ghoulish. Its omnipresent narrator foreshadows small, mundane actions along the way, all laddering up to the ultimate climax—providing an extra layer of fated doom.

Reading The Spiral Staircase is surprisingly refreshing, as stylistically it’s so different from what’s being published today. Personally, I found the antiquated writing style actually elevates the overall off-kilter vibe (aside from a few hiccups with confusing phrasing and outdated references). If you're in the mood for a solid closed-room mystery with a side of dark British humor, this one is well worth picking up!

Originally published in 1933 as “Some Must Watch”, The Spiral Staircase is a slow burn psychological thriller set in a remote country house. Full of tension and gothic writing, The Spiral Staircase follows Helen, a domestic staff member at a remote Victorian country house. She is greatly concerned by the recent murders of other young women, gradually coming closer to her.

While The Spiral Staircase was not to my liking - the language used is very old-fashioned to the modern reader and it is occasionally difficult to follow - it’s a perfectly serviceable read for someone looking for historical spookiness

Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for access to the Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ethel Lina White was a contemporary of Agatha Christie and this book definitely has that feel about it. The story takes place in a country estate where Helen, a servant at the estate, becomes increasingly concerned about murders that have occurred nearby. And she has good reason for being concerned.

The book was written in 1933, and the language and writing reflect that. However, the mystery is very good and will keep you in suspense until the end. It’s easy to see why it was made into a movie three times. Recommended.

An English country manor with a dysfunctional family, including an acerbic old matriarch, a staunch professor, a disgraced university student and young Helen Capel, a live-in helper girl. When a series of murders of young women reaches ever closer to the house, all the residents are set on edge. A raging storm, a surly new nurse and the fear of a killer stalking the property leaves the house locked up tight. But as the number of occupants dwindle, Helen fears the worst, that the murderer is after her, and there's no escape.
A genuine mystery taking place on "a dark and stormy night," it has the interesting plot device of characters leaving one by one, yet for reasons other than being murdered. As it chugs along the narrative definitely becomes more intense and exciting. However, it starts to become a bit ridiculous in just how much back and forth Helen goes through during the story, and the climactic night felt like it was drawn out way too much. Generally entertaining but a bid absurd.

I wasn’t sure about this book but I loved it. This is a british mystery. It was a little predictable and unputdownable. The book is well written, and insightful. Loved the character development in it and the mystery that engulfed everyone. Expect the unthinkable, murders, secrets, mystery, and twists. The ending was shocking. The book will keep you guessing till the end. It will give you an eerie and suspenseful vibe. As soon as you will read it, you will find yourself in a country house with strange family and being surrounded by strange happenings. Get yourself ready for murder, mystery and mayhem. While the pace is medium and the book has flowery details of characters, place and unexpected happenings. Thanks to the Publisher

With a killer on the loose and a storm raging, Professor Warren seals the guests in the remote mansion for the night—but the greatest threat may already be inside. This classic thriller is tense and atmospheric with a fascinating cast of characters.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

It was a dark and stormy night, both inside and outside of The Summit. Inside the isolated house, tempers were boiling over and jealousies were flaring. Outside, the rain was lashing down and the trees were blowing in the wind. The trees, casting their shadows and scraping, tapping menacingly against the windows set people on edge--and they're not all quite right. Could it be that some of them are moving? What can the trees tell about the women that have been killed closer and closer to The Summit and who will be next?

Helen Capel, the newly arrived 'help' at The Summit starts off feeling pretty good about things as she returns from her first day off in her new job. Only 19, but employed at various places since she was 14, she's pretty pleased with her new job and feeling fairly confident as she sees the house in the distance. But it's getting dark and there have been murders and as her unease grows and she tries to distract herself, she thinks maybe she should get a move on. She's almost there, but that tree looks funny. Better go in the back way. Once inside, she's back to her usual, extremely curious self. She finagles a visit to the blue room, where the matriarch of the Warren family, an invalid, is grudgingly cared for by her step-daughter and a series of nurses. The house is isolated, the family is strange, and Lady Warren is difficult. In fact, a new nurse is on her way. Helen is friendly with Professor Warren's pupil, Steven, and enjoys the family dramas unfolding between him and the Professor's son and daughter-in-law. But, still a bit tense from her dash back to the house and looking forward to her tea and toast with dripping, she makes her way through the dark passages and down the spiral staircase with its shadows to the kitchen and the company of Mrs. Oates. Everyone is waiting for the return of Mr.Oates with the new nurse as the storm intensifies. When they arrive, the nurse is not what they expected--is she who she says she is? Later they get the news. Another young woman has been killed, this time on the grounds of The Summit. Professor Warren orders all the doors and windows locked. No one is to leave or be admitted until morning. With some grumbling, everyone agrees. Helen feels safe, locked in with all those people. Until, for one reason and another, they start to leave. Helen's fear grows as daylight seems very far away and she feels increasingly alone. Who can she trust?

I've never read this book before and am not a movie person, so never saw any of the movies based on it, either. I started the book not knowing what to expect, but once I started, I could not put it down. I set it aside for a few minutes at one point to make a cup of tea, but other than that, I was engrossed in it, eager to see what was going to happen. I knew I wasn't going to bed until I finished it because how would I even sleep? From the first page, White drew me in as the setting goes from a momentary spacious feeling in both the physical surroundings and Helen's thoughts, to an increasing sense of claustrophobia as she gets closer to the house, the nights creeps up, and the trees wave in the wind. There are a few moments of respite for Helen and the reader as she takes tea with Mrs Oates, but then weird things start to happen again. There is some foreshadowing as the author says things about how Helen will only see later how all these small, seemingly insignificant things fit together and lead to what will come, so we're given some clues that remind us stay on our guard. This is a slow burn of a book, which I think makes perfect sense. The seemingly endless night that Helen is experiencing would not go by in a flash. It would drag slowly towards daylight, which would seem like it would never arrive. I never felt like the story got bogged down, though. Indeed, I could feel the tension and confusion Helen felt as she tried to determine what was going on, who she could trust, and what she should do. Being young and having been on her own for years, she's had to rely on her wits to survive. Her curiosity has taught her a great deal, replacing formal education in some ways, but although she's had more experience than many young women of her age, she's more naive than she knows. She is sometimes all over the place in her thinking--sure of her conclusions one minute and reaching different ones in the next--which seemed like exactly the way someone in her situation would behave. In addition to the setting and atmosphere, I thought the characterization in this novel was masterfully done.

There was one scene where two people talked things over and action was begun, but that was the end of that. It was dropped right there with one character saying what he planned to do and starting, but then we never see these people again. It's easy enough to fill in the blanks, and figure out how that would've played out, but I did wonder why that scene was there. The denouement was chilling, not so much for the discovery of the killer, but for the reasons given. This isn't really a whodunnit. It's more psychological and even sociological in some ways. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for a DRC

I did enjoy this, but at times I had trouble keeping up with who was who.
It seemed farcical at times, and I never felt a lot of tension.
However some of the characters and their interactions were fascinating.
It's aged well, so much so I hadn't realised how old it was until now.
It's an author I'm going to have to look into.