The Girl in the Cellar

So many emotions involved in the conclusion of a shared reading project with Liz/lyzard that began way back in February 2017 with the first book in this series, The Grey Mask. And now (well, April 2022) comes the last, The Girl in the Cellar. I'm sad it's over, I'm happy to have experienced it in such good company through the years, and I'm grateful that the final book turned out to be one of the very best, in my opinion.

The book opens with a young woman sitting on the stairs of a pitch-black cellar. She does not know who she is, or where she is, or why, and she can see nothing, but she is sure that somewhere below her in the cellar someone is lying dead on the floor. Who is it? Who is she herself? How did she get here?

Fortunately, when show more she works up the courage to leave the house, she soon runs into Miss Silver on a bus. Miss Silver, being a very perceptive governess-turned-enquiry-agent, sees her distress and engages her in conversation. Together they come up with a plan that will eventually lead to her regaining her memory and discovering the murderer of the girl in the cellar.

This one has it all. Amnesia, murder, mistaken identity, family squabbles over money, shifty lowlifes up to no good, and of course a nice healthy romance that comes to fruition at the end. And shining through it all, the steady hands and brain of Miss Silver, knitting steadily throughout. Happy sighs all around. show less

Standing on some cellar stairs in the dark. How did she get there? Why is she there? Who is she? The name Anne is familiar to her.

At the foot of the stairs lies the body of a dead girl. Who is she and why is she there?

Anne realizes she has a purse and is able to catch a bus and pay the fare. When she arrives at the station, she realizes she has no luggage.

Miss Silver had noticed Anne and her confused behaviour, so she approached Anne to offer assistance. A letter is found in Anne’s purse stating her name is Mrs. James Fancourt and she is on her way to stay with the Fancourt family until her husband arrives at a later date.

Along with amnesia, Anne feels a dread about her and the Fancourt home. As her amnesia goes away, she finds that show more her dread is connected to real fears.

Mistaken identity, family greed, deception, amnesia, gas-lighting, family threads — all tangled elements needing unravelling, before another murder happens. show less

I really enjoyed the last third of this book. This was an audiobook and it seemed to me that I kept listening to the same conversation over and over being shared with the different characters. The title explains the premise. Wentworth seems to like amnesia victims stories and this is the 2nd of 5 that I've read. A woman sitting on basement stairs in the dark realizes that there's a dead woman on the floor in front of her. She picks a handbag and flashlight but the only indentification is a letter in the purse. Is she the dead woman or the victim. She only knows she didn't kill her. Fortunately for her she runs into Miss Silver who tells her what to do.

At the beginning of the book a girl is aware that she is sitting on stone steps looking out into 'dead unbroken dark'. Slowly she comes to realise that she is in the cellar of a house and on the cellar floor below her 'someone is lying dead'. This is an interesting and tense mystery thriller which feels slightly dated, but is an enjoyable read nonetheless.

'Er was maar een ding dat zij wel wist. En dat er onder aan de trap een dode lag.'

Een jong meisje staat in het donker op een keldertrap in een vreemd huis. In paniek vlucht ze weg. Ze weet niet hoe ze daar gekomen is. Ze weet niet wie ze is. Ze kent alleen haar eigen voornaam: Anne. Het enige aanknopingspunt met haar verleden is een brief in haar tas. Op advies van miss Silver gaat ze naar het adres dat in de brief genoemd wordt. Maar daar wachten haar nieuwe verschrikkingen ...