Great characters; still holds up over time; every chapter is in a different voice ( )

Yup, that Laura, the one they made into a movie with Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Judith Anderson, and Vincent Price.

You know the story. Det. Mark McPherson is called in to solve the murder of Laura Hunt, beautiful, vivacious young career girl who is killed on the eve of her marriage to Shelby Carpenter, a ne'er-do-well with a bit of the gigolo about him. He falls in love with the dead woman, and then she walks in the door. So who was the woman who took a shotgun blast in the face in Laura's apartment? And was she or Laura the intended victim?

The beginning of the story is told by Waldo Lydecker, aesthete, man about town and well-known newspaper columnist, who is himself in love with Laura. The point of view then shifts to Mark, then Carpenter, Laura, and back to Mark. It's well done.

I'd seen the movie before I read the book, and for once I can say that, despite some changes, the movie is as good as the book. (Though from Caspary's description of Lydecker, the studio ought to have cast Sidney Greenstreet rather than Webb.) It's not great literature; it's not intended to be. But Caspary is good at what she does, describing the life of a woman like Laura and the society in which she moved.

If you liked the movie, read the book.

Quibble from a criminal lawyer: police officers, particularly a homicide detective and his superior, should know that corpus delicti does not mean "corpse"!

Source for the great film Noir classic of the same name; but it is not Noir. A hardboiled detective in the central role; but he treads softly. A femme fatale central to the plot; but played by an portly and acerbic elderly man. A fortune hunting 'doxy' to sow the seeds of confusion; but in the guise of a young southern gentleman. And the hero is a heroine.

Vera Caspary has taken all the elements of the classic Noir tale and turned them upside down. The result is an innovative and subtle mystery. The plot has some minor annoyances, but they are subjugated by a brilliant story.

Writing the novel in first person narrative form, from three separate viewpoints, was an ambitious undertaking. It did not fully succeed. The language too often gets in the way of the narrative: it is just a little off centre. The author's grasp improves with each chapter so that by the final third, it comes fully into focus.

Laura is not masterpiece of writing. It is a masterpiece of story telling. ( )