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The Wheel Spins

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The Wheel Spins

By: Ethel Lina White
Narrated by: Candida Gubbins
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About this listen

Travelling home from a European holiday, Iris Carr ends up alone at the station after a quarrel with her friends. Struck by a mysterious assailant and waking up just in time to board the train which will take her on her journey to London, things seem to be looking up after a chance meeting with the affable Miss Froy. But when Iris passes out and reawakens, Miss Froy is nowhere to be found. The other passengers deny any knowledge of her existence and as the train speeds across Europe, Iris spirals deeper and deeper into a strange conspiracy.

Adapted for the screen as The Lady Vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock in 1938, Ethel Lina White's suspenseful mystery remains her best-known novel, worthy of acknowledgement as a classic of the genre in its own right.

©2023 Martin Edwards (P)2023 Soundings Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Exciting

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All stars
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Clever and thrilling, this mystery barrels along like the speeding train it’s set on. Well drawn out characters and sparky dialogue. Very enjoyable.

Exciting classic thriller

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White’s writing is tight & stands the test of time. Will be listening to others by her

Pleasant narration and well written story

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liked most things about it in fact. the narrator was very good but she did make Hare/Hayer sound a bit like a 15 year old!

good pace!

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Those who are fans of the 1938 Hitchcock film adaptation will enjoy the original book. It's a pretty well constructed plot as in fear stalks the village. ELW maintains a good pace, echoing the velocity of the train. Also like fear stalks the village ELW integrates a large cast of characters into the plot, but also manages to give insights into their private lives which is admirable. A deeper analysis of the book would delve into issues such as manipulation of majority consent, racism, English supremacist attitudes, but this isn't the place. ELW makes the female protagonist interesting because Iris is presented as a shallow, conceited and selfish and quite unlikeable, but the plot throws her into a position where she sticks to her principles and reveals latent integrity and sincerity. The plot despite being generally tight, does show some flaws. One would expect the professor at least to question why a patient suffering from severe facial injuries has no drip attached, or the pristine condition of the bandages, and why the dressing isn't being renewed or just the complete absence of drugs and medical paraphenalia one would expect to see in such a case. Also no mention is made about what the criminals did with Froys suitcase, also it's amazing that Iris was able to recount every minute detail of Froys clothes yet she failed to recognise her shoes, a woman never fails to recognise another's shoes! The denoument is also slightly disappointing, one gets the impression ELW was running out of steam and just rushed it, but it could have been made more satisfying.
Overall enjoyable.

Enjoyable fast paced but slightly flawed plot

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Having seen the film "The Vanishing Lady" many years ago I remember enjoying it.
This story was slightly silly in the telling. It felt like almost like a childrens story.
It just didn't really work as far as I was concerned. Overly long too. I listened to the end but will not be revisiting this audio book.
The narration was Okay, but my attention was lost.

A bit of a disappointment

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