I found this yellowed-but-sound '70s paperback (different cover than shown) on the book swap shelf in the Tyngsboro post office lobby. It's the novel on which the classic 1944 film was based, and I'm interested to see how the book and film compare.

Later: They're quite close, for the most part, though the author apparently based acerbic critic Lydecker on the rotund Alexander Woollcott, while the film version went with the slim and oh-so-delightfully-dry Clifton Webb. There are other minor changes here and there, among them the film's enhancement of the role of Laura's aunt: in the film she's clearly attached to Shelby romantically, while in the book there are bare hints that her disapproval of his match with Laura may have an underlying motive.

The book maintains its suspense by switching viewpoints, with some entertaining in-story reasons for the transitions. It opens with Lydecker as narrator, then switches to that of dogged - and smitten - detective McPherson, and then to... let's just say to a character whose name would be a spoiler to anyone who didn't already know how the story unfolds {wry grin}.

Throughout the book, the dialogue and the in-character narration simply sparkles, each character's personality coming across clearly. The tangled motives are gradually revealed, the shocking swerve is still effective even though I knew it was going to happen, and the denouement is handled masterfully. I've often found myself disappointed to read books on which favorite classic films were based - not necessarily because the books were bad but because they were so very different from the films - but in this case I'm very happy with both. Recommended!

[There's a TV Tropes page for the novel and film, with some interesting tidbits, but if you've never heard or seen the story before, beware of spoilers.]

I plan to leave this book on the book-swap shelves in the park-and-ride terminal at around 3; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2015 Movie release challenge. ***