The Iron Gates (1945)

[spoilers] This is the first I’ve read of Margaret Millar and by all signs it’s not one of her best. But it’s not bad, just eccentric or maybe a bit of a failed experiment. I found it tucked into the back of one of those Alfred Hitchcock-branded anthologies of the ‘60s, Stories for Late at Night. It’s labeled (fairly) as a novel even if it is a short one, under 200 pages. It’s also listed on ISFDB, in fact the only novel there by Millar, who wrote more than two dozen in her career. ISFDB is notably finicky (if also inconsistent) about “non-genre” literature so, along with the Hitchcock placement, I half-expected something supernatural. As it turns out, not so much. The main character, Lucille, has some vivid dreams, is institutionalized, and eventually commits suicide. It turns out she is a very bad person, though I have to say she’s more likable than many others here. Millar had written a handful of novels by this point and has a good sense for putting the story together. The characters all defy expectations. Lucille is basically a psychopath—we find out that she murdered her friend with an ax so she could marry her husband, the widower. The stepchildren never liked Lucille. And they were right to feel that way. Yet they are a couple of miscreants themselves. There might be elements of psychological realism but I’m not always sure when Millar knows it. There is also a detective in a starring role, Inspector Sands, from an earlier novel, Wall of Eyes. I would call The Iron Gates workmanlike and professionally done but not very inspired. Millar has her own reputation so I’m sure there’s much better out there. I wonder how editor Robert Arthur came to include it in the Hitchcock anthology—sounds like some Southern California story. I like the themes this one takes on and the way it goes for psychological depth, but it never really builds up much steam. Lucille and the Morrow family all certainly have their problems. It uses a diary to tell a key part of the story. It worked but also felt gimmicky. But being gimmicky, as a mystery story, also makes it comforting, though it never quite jelled for me. Mixed bag.

In case the library is closed due to pandemic, which is over.