Review: The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich

Synopsis: No one knew who she was, where she came from, or why she had entered their lives. All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty-and that each time she appeared, a man died horribly...

The first in Cornell Woolrich's "black" series of novels - the others being The Black Curtain, Black Alibi, The Black Angel, The Black Path of Fear, Rendezvous in Black.

I think it is a wonderful tale of revenge wherein the motive lies back in the past - for as we all know, revenge is a dish best served cold (and on the best china!).

This novel also diverges from the standard mystery genre in that the focus is not on the cat and mouse chase of thevsuspect and detective, rather on the suspect and victims. The narrative is clearly separated into each of the victims and always begins with the arrival of "the bride" before we get into the details of each murder. The set up for each murder is given ample page-time. However, it is not until we reach the very last that things are not so clear cut, and the motive and the final denouement do not reach us until the very last pages - even then, things take another surprising turn.

As to the main characters, the detective - Lew Wanger - in this instance is merely there to summerise the known facts. He is constantly being frustrated by his superiors who refuse to believe there is any connections between the crimes, all of which display different "modus operandi" in the execution (pardon the pun). Only as we progress from murder to murder does his role become a little more fuller as he begins to connect the dots and the author allows him more of our attention. And yet upon reflection, "the bride" herself is seemingly kept at arms length too - we don't really know her story until its conclusion.

This novel is well worth exploring - and I look forward to more from the series.

And for those interested, Woolrich was the author of numerous classic novels and short stories (many of which were turned into classic films) such as Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Waltz Into Darkness, and I Married a Dead Man. Many also claim that The Bride Wore Black may have been the inspiration behind "Kill Bill" though Tarrantino declare that is not so.