Being a fan of classic crime means that I am almost predisposed to finding enjoyment in most mystery novels from the first half of the twentieth century. I love the casual comments which give away the period the novel was written, the ‘unusual’ turns of phrase and descriptions which speak of the cultural and sociological views of the protagonists (and authors) and the rather more formal use of language which somehow seems much more civilized than what we are used to today. (For example, see previous sentence).

Of course, this will only get you so far: the story still has to be good, the writing has to be of a quality and most importantly, the plot has to have the right elements to make it a genuine mystery.
Happily, (and not surprisingly) all these elements are present in “The Lady Vanishes”. It is an interesting puzzle (although I had it sussed from the presentation of the key scene, but maybe that comes with reading far too many mystery novels…) told with genuine tension and foreboding.
Characterisation is also very well handled, explaining enough to make sense of plot and actions but without giving away too much, too soon.

It really is no surprise that "The Lady Vanishes" has been made into various movies in the years after its publication, it’s a great example of a mystery novel from this era, or indeed any era.

1936 Miss Iris Carr, wealthy, shallow, and spoilt has come to the end of a holiday in a remote part of Europe, a day after her friends have already departed. Alone on the train to Trieste she meets governess Miss Winifred Froy, who then goes missing. But no-one will believe her. Can she find her before the end of the journey.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery. It was interesting to read as I could compare the book to the original 1938 film.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike most reviewers I haven't seen the Hitchcock film, although I have seen a stage adaptation of the book which was originally published as The Wheel Spins.

So I knew the story, but even so the book was exciting and my heart was racing as the train sped towards Trieste, hoping that Iris solved the mystery and that there would be a happy ending. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the story where Mr and Mrs Froy and their charming dog Sock are waiting for their daughter's safe return.

A recommended read for lovers of Golden Age mystery thrillers.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Lady Vanishes coming out September 3, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This book was published as The Wheel Spins in 1936. I’ve watched the Hitchcock version of this movie and loved it, so I was excited to read the book. I love classic books. I think the story was action packed for the time. There was a lot of mystery. Train stories were definitely big during the time. I loved it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys classic 1930s books!

I loved the 1938 Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes. Agatha Christie is my gold standard when it comes to classic mysteries. So by all accounts, I should love this golden age mystery on which the film is based. Unfortunately, I didn’t.

The story is incredibly dated with a whole lot of references to 1930s British events. The pacing is slow. It takes half the book to even get on the train. However, the ending, which was the best part of the story, feels rushed. The main character is annoying. The side characters are either stereotypes, boring, or both. The book’s short length should not be its best characteristic.

I would recommend The Lady Vanishes only to golden age mystery completists. Or maybe Hitchcock fans, who want to appreciate his skill at turning a mediocre, at best, book into a fantastic movie. 2 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for providing me with an advanced review copy.

When Alfred Hitchcock decided to make a movie of The Wheel Spins (renamed as The Lady Vanishes for the big screen) by Ethel Lina White in 1938, it became his ticket to Hollywood greatness.

Even though almost 90 years have passed since it was first published, the story, plot and writing of the book doesn't feel dated at all. Flip the narrative to a modern setting with a few tweaks (even Hitchcock made a few changes to the plot for the movie version) and I am sure it will be as gripping as I found reading the original.

The setting of the fast moving train travelling on dangerous terrain, the close set compartments and the sense of time slipping away helps to bring forth the sense of urgency, fear and desperation Iris Carr feels--both in her quest to locate Miss Froy who she knows exists and is in danger and to prove that she is not hallucinating. It is also shared by Miss Froy, who locked and hidden away in a compartment, still holds out hope to be rescued while her parents and dog in a small country cottage anxiously wait for her to return home.

Agatha Christie is the most famous name of the Golden Age of Mysteries era but I am looking forward to getting introduced to other writers who were equally popular at the time.

This reissue by Pushkin Press/Pushkin Vertigo is due to be out on September 3, 2024. My thanks to the publisher for the e-Arc of the book which I received via NetGalley.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Iris Carr remains a bit longer after her friends depart from their holiday and she hasn't exactly made herself popular with the other guests at the hotel. So, she finds herself travelling alone on the train back to England. On her journey, she makes the acquaintance of a Miss Froy who, while kindly, can be a rather difficult companion. When she wakes from her sleep, she finds Miss Froy has disappeared and when she makes enquiries of the other passengers, all claim no knowledge of the woman's existence. It's up to Iris to discover what's happened before it's too late.

I was delighted to find this book available even though I have never seen any of the film or tv adaptations of it. The first part of the book sets us up for what happens later, with much description of Iris and other remaining guests of the hotel after her socialite crowd leaves before her. Then later on the train, we meet these people again, along with the characters of other passengers and staff. Iris is beside herself when Miss Froy disappears and then she is essentially gaslighted so that she feels she has lost her mind. Every time we think some progress is being made in finding Miss Froy, things take a step backwards until things reach the climax of the book as the train is reaching Trieste.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I was on the edge of my seat for much of the latter part of it. I rate it four stars and highly recommend to anyone desiring a mystery/thriller. Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for giving me a free copy of the book, I have reviewed this voluntarily.

The Lady Vanishes is a golden age mystery/suspense story that is better known for the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. A purposeless young Englishwoman meets a bland middle-aged Englishwoman on a train back to England, and when the latter goes missing, is the only person who claims to know anything about her. It's a long exercise in gaslighting by the entire train, whether for relatively innocent or nefarious purposes, which is the main trigger for the building suspense (a la Gaslight), even more than the train's increasing proximity to a bad outcome in Trieste.
The main character, in spite of her indolence and lack of direction, is sympathetic and likable for her tenacity in hunting for the missing woman. The bad guys are appropriately suspicious and forbidding, and the deputized men are satisfyingly useless and credulous. There are a few side characters whose arcs are given a chapter or two's attention, and it's only too bad that they don't play a more active role in the solution. Given that this is the origin of a well-known film, this reissue will play well with library fans of classic mysteries.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Set in the 1930's, The Lady Vanishes, originally published as The Wheel Spins, is a classic telling of a young woman on vacation who makes a claim of another vanishing on a train. However, there is no proof to be found, no trace of the woman, and no one believes what the vacationer claims to have saw.

While the book started out slowly, and admittedly I put it down more than once, I'm glad that I picked it back up and kept going. The pace picked up for me with the setting of the train, the plot was complex with psychological and thrilling elements and the cast of characters were interesting... all of these things added up to make it an engaging and enjoyable read.

"The ingenious classic thriller behind Hitchcock's famous film, set on a steam train travelling across 1930s Europe and boasting "intrigue, mystery, and spine-chilling horror." (Saturday Review)

First published as The Wheel Spins in 1936 and adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock in 1938, Ethel Lina White's The Lady Vanishes established the author as one of the greatest crime writers of the Golden Age.

After a summer holiday in a remote corner of Europe, the glamorous socialite Iris Carr is looking forward to returning to the comforts of home. But having stayed on at the resort after her friends' departure, Iris now faces the journey home alone. On the train to Trieste, she is pleased to meet a kindly governess, Miss Froy, and strikes up a conversation. Iris warms to her companion, and is alarmed when she wakes from a sleep to find that Miss Froy has suddenly disappeared from the train without a trace. Worse still, she is horrified to discover that none of the other passengers on the train will admit to having ever seen such a woman.

Doubting her sanity and fearing for her life, Iris is determined to find Miss Froy before the train journey is over. Only one of her fellow passengers seems to believe her story. With his help, Iris begins to search the train for clues to the mystery of the vanished lady at the center of this ingenious classic thriller."

I am in love with this beautiful reissue of this classic mystery. How classic? I once tried to get an Iris Carr inspired haircut... It did not end well.

As someone who appreciates the mystery genre, reading a classic mystery is always enjoyable. When I discovered this new edition of the classic novel, I decided to check it out.

The book seemed to drag at times, and there were a few pointless descriptions that made the plot go more slowly. Despite being a standard, old-fashioned mystery, I found the mystery to be sufficiently entertaining. Though not particularly novel, the twists and turns made the book enjoyable to read.

The characters were great, especially Iris. Her participation was convincingly depicted by the author, and the inclusion of the supporting cast increased the humor of the narrative. The author's skill definitely resides in bringing vivid speech to life and crafting a number of amusing moments with colorful characters.

An enjoyable read, for sure, but I have to said that I enjoyed Hitchock's movie more. Still if you are of fan of the classic, mystery books, I would recommend reading this one.

I love the movie and the book does not disappoint. Lots of action and enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Great story.

** “It just shows how careful one should be when one is abroad. We always keep to our rule never to get mixed up in other people’s business.” **

Pushkin Press is re-releasing Ethel Lina White’s 1936 “The Lady Vanishes,” once made famous by Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic version.

After vacationing in the mountains of Europe, socialite Iris Carr finds herself returning home on the train. Placed in a car with six others, she quickly builds a bond with governess Winifred Froy, the only fellow Englishman in the car. But after taking tea together and a quick nap, Iris wakes to find Miss Froy gone … and everyone acting as if she never existed.

Iris quickly works to figure out why she remembers the governess and no one else does. Attempting to find help from her fellow mountain vacationers also on the train, can she prove she is not crazy and that Miss Froy really did exist? Or is she truly losing her mind?

“The Lady Vanishes” is a classic mystery with a similar format to a locked-room mystery. It definitely holds up to the test of time, having been written almost 90 years ago. Although the writing is a little more formal at times than contemporary writing, it is still an easy and enjoyable read, keeping readers guessing until the very end.

Ethel Lina White was a well-known crime writer in the 1930s and ’40s, comparable to Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Obviously fans of such authors and Hitchcock’s classic film will enjoy “The Lady Vanishes.”

Pushkin Press’ version of the novel, originally published as “The Wheel Spins,” is due out Sept. 3.

Five stars out of five.

Pushkin Press provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

I have watched both the Hitchcock and the more modern version of The Lady Vanishes so I went into this interested to see how the story aligned with what I already knew of it. I was pleasantly surprised by how modern and funny the book felt. Iris is a wonderful flapper-esque heroine and it's a perfect novel for any Agatha Christie fans that want women to have a little more agency in the stories. The narrative zips along with the train and the deftness of mystery combined with the humour make this a very fun read.

For someone who loved the Alfred Hitchcock movie so much, I'm embarrassed to say that I did not know it was based a book. I'm told that Ethel Lina White was a big name along side of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. I was very excited to be given the chance to read the book thanks to Netflix and the publisher. Halfway through, I wanted to find the movie which I did and watched. I think the book is better. The movie doesn't stick to the characters as written and especially changes Iris' nature.
The book is tense, well-written, and compelling. I enjoyed every word of it. So if you are a fan of the movie The Lady Vanishes, I urge you to read the book. It's a real thriller!!!!

The Lady Vanishes is a repackaging and retitling of Ethel Lina White's nest-remembered novel The Wheel Spins. Made famous, of course, by Hitchcock's film adaptation, it deserves the general recognition that has come to it. Iris Carr is a heroine it is hard to like as the novel begins. She is on holiday somewhere (unnamed) in eastern Europe with a gaggle of amoral hangers-on who have alienated the other hotel guests with their bad behaviour. Jaded by her time as the financer of the group, she stays on for a few days after the rest leave. She stays aloof from her fellow guests and thus, when they all board the same train en route for England, she has no support or companion. What follows is a nightmarish descent into frantic despair as she tries to convince someone - anyone - that a Miss Froy is missing...

A classic book reissued. This is the first time I've read this book but have seen the movie. Although written almost a hundred years ago it stands the test of time, gripping and hooks you from the start. Thanks to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for this review copy.

A Dazzling Mystery..
A classic of suspense, reissued. A glamorous socialite, an unexpected meeting and a baffling disappearance on a train prompt a dazzling mystery. Impossibly atmospheric and with an eclectic and carefully crafted cast of characters populating the tension fuelled plot. A solid reissue which stands the test of time.

I read this book because the movie “The Lady Vanishes” was based on it. I thought the book kind of dragged and had lots of unnecessary descriptions and explanations.

This was a fun, quick read, especially if you’re a fan of Golden Age era detective fiction! More psychological thriller than a whodunnit, the book captures well the stifling atmosphere of being trapped on a train and not knowing who you can trust. The twists and turns weren’t groundbreaking, which isn’t surprising considering this was written in the 30s, but I still enjoyed the ride. Looking forward to watching the Hitchcock film this is based on!