LemonSky reviewed Never look back by Mignon Good Eberhart
Review of 'Never look back' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Margaret "Maggy" Brooke is returning home to the States after a two-week visit to England. Maggy is going to New York as a favor to her beloved father-in-law, Charles Brooke, who has been like a father to her in many ways. He certainly regards Maggy as the daughter he never had. One suspects that Maggy's marriage to Charles Brooke's only son, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, was due largely to the elder Brooke's influence. Charles believes that Maggy can "save" Fen from himself, but Maggy has her doubts. Her marriage to the spoiled, selfish Fen is on the rocks and the two have separated. However, Charles wants them to reconcile and intends to put Maggy in sole control of the couple's finances, an idea which Maggy hates. Still, Maggy would do anything for Charles, who has given her so much. It is out of obligation, not love, that she intends to do …
Margaret "Maggy" Brooke is returning home to the States after a two-week visit to England. Maggy is going to New York as a favor to her beloved father-in-law, Charles Brooke, who has been like a father to her in many ways. He certainly regards Maggy as the daughter he never had. One suspects that Maggy's marriage to Charles Brooke's only son, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, was due largely to the elder Brooke's influence. Charles believes that Maggy can "save" Fen from himself, but Maggy has her doubts. Her marriage to the spoiled, selfish Fen is on the rocks and the two have separated. However, Charles wants them to reconcile and intends to put Maggy in sole control of the couple's finances, an idea which Maggy hates. Still, Maggy would do anything for Charles, who has given her so much. It is out of obligation, not love, that she intends to do as Charles wishes. However, she dreads Fen's reaction when he hears the news.
Maggy stays in the penthouse apartment of Laura Brooke, a cousin by marriage. The penthouse is really more like a house. Really too much room for one person. Right from the start, Maggy feels on edge. She discovers a still-smoking cigarette in an ashtray, but no one else should have been in the apartment.
A tense, but polite meeting with Fen does not help matters. He tries to convince her to return to him, but she refuses. Fen has not changed. He only pretends to accept responsibility for his selfish actions:
“Remember I didn't have a chance to sow any wild oats. There was always Father and old Agnes after me, like a policeman instead of a governess. Then I went right into the army and marriage.”
Maggy refuses to go with Fen, who leaves after remarking:
“Thunder. A storm is coming.”
Maggy is on edge. She constantly worries that her beloved Siamese cat, Simpson, will fall to his death from the terrace to the sidewalk 21 floors below. That night Maggy awakens during a storm and cannot find Simpson. She rushes out to the terrace:
“She clung to the wet, cold railing; she lifted her face, trying to see through rain and darkness; there was another vivid, greenish flash of lightning which sharply outlined the edge of the roof above. Something moved there, against the lighted sky.
The lightning was gone; thunder crashed over the city, all around her. There was only blackness above, below – everywhere. What had moved up there?
Had anything moved – like a head aware of her approach, jerking backward as the flash of lightning revealed it?
If anything moved, it was the cat; and it was not the cat.”
Fortunately, Simpson is safe and Maggy believes she was just imagining things. However, the next morning she discovers an open can of salmon on the terrace. Maggy cannot understand why anyone would try to lure Simpson out onto the terrace – unless they were trying to lure her out using her cat as bait.
Maggy puts the incident out of her mind, but it increasingly becomes obvious that something sinister really is going on. A mysterious woman in black falls to her death from the apartment just below Maggy's. Was it murder, suicide or accidental? Did it have anything to do with Maggy? Two subsequent attempts on Maggy's life make it very clear that she is not imaging things after all.
Mignon G. Eberhart (MGE) does an excellent job of building suspense. The storm scene quoted above is one of her best. Maggy's terror of whatever lurks in the darkness is palpable. The plot is fast moving and really draws the reader in. I read this in less than a day. I got annoyed when people kept interrupting me towards the end. “Could you please let me finish my book?” It really was hard to put down.
Maggy is a likable heroine, but she tends to let people run her life for her and make her decisions, which can get irritating. I could not understand her fascination with Fen. During their conversation in the penthouse, Fen repeatedly pretends to accept responsibility for his actions, but does it in such a way that he is actually blaming someone else for what he did. Nothing is ever his fault. It is very apparent that Maggy no longer loves Fen. She merely feels an obligation to take care of him. Her real devotion is to Charles Brooke above all else.
The ending is a little confusing. I had to read it twice to understand what happened. There's a great deal of running around and cross-accusations. It's almost like MGE realized she had to end it and just tried to wrap everything up really fast. Despite that, I really enjoyed “Never Look Back.” It's definitely one of the better MGE books that I've read. Other good MGE books are [b:Unknown Quantity|551725|Unknown Quantity|Mignon G. Eberhart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1219109265s/551725.jpg|538965] and [b:Five Passengers from Lisbon|1869808|Five Passengers from Lisbon|Mignon G. Eberhart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1219103458s/1869808.jpg|1870622].