Midnight Lace

This story takes place in London and focuses on Katherine “Kit” Preston. Kit has been married for three months to Tony Preston, who is a British financier and owner of his business. Her marriage seems to be in great shape; however, three months into the marriage she receives a strange and threatening phone call that says she will be murdered soon. The following day she receives another phone call, and after that she and her husband go to Scotland Yard to talk about the incident. They talk with Inspector Byrnes, but he doesn’t believe her and thinks that the phone calls are all in her mind.

Later, her Aunt Bea comes to visit for awhile to help her with the phone calls. As the story continues, no one believes Kit, and she feels that she’s losing her mind. Her husband wants to believe her and does what he can to help her. The inspector and others think that all of this is happening because she is neglected and has too much time on her hands.

Days later she meets Brian Younger, the foreman of the construction site next to where Kit and her husband live, and he seems to know a lot about Kit. Preston’s housekeeper, Malcolm Stanley, is also a parasite and could be the one making the phone calls. Throughout the terrifying phone calls and the sense that she’s being followed, Kit must find out who is behind the calls and the stalking. The pressure builds on Kit because she feels that she is being stalked no matter where she goes. The climax comes at midnight, when the stalker enters her apartment. She is terrified. She may have time to call Tony, but it may be too late.