Originally published as Some Must Watch in 1933, this is a reissue by Pushkin Vertigo under the title The Spiral Staircase – the name of the 1946 film adaptation. I’ve previously read two other novels by Ethel Lina White – The Wheel Spins and Fear Stalks the Village – and enjoyed both, although I found the former slightly disappointing in comparison with Alfred Hitchock’s wonderful The Lady Vanishes, which is based on it. This book has turned out to be my favourite of the three!
Almost the entire novel is set within the walls of the Summit, a lonely country house near the Welsh/English border. Adding to the sense of tension and claustrophobia, the main events of the story also take place over the course of a single evening. As the novel opens, we learn that four murders have recently been committed – the first two in the nearest town, which is over twenty miles away, the next slightly closer, and the fourth in another country house just five miles from the Summit. All four victims were young women and their deaths are on Helen Capel’s mind as she returns to the Summit after her afternoon off and is convinced that she sees a man hiding behind a tree in the dark.
Helen has just started a new job as ‘help’ to the Warren family – Miss Warren and her brother, known as the Professor, and their elderly, bedridden stepmother, Lady Warren. At the start of the novel, the Professor’s son and his wife are staying at the house, as is a student of the Professor’s, Stephen Rice. The rest of the household is made up of two more domestic servants, Mr and Mrs Oates, and the newly arrived Nurse Barker, who has been employed to look after Lady Warren.
When news of another murder, closer than ever this time, reaches the family, the Professor orders that all the doors are locked and everyone stays inside until morning. These should be easy enough instructions to follow, yet for a variety of reasons, one person after another leaves the house or becomes otherwise incapacitated. As a storm rages outside and the tension builds inside, Helen is forced to confront the idea that one of the remaining people in the house could be the murderer.
This book is good fun, but you do need to be able to suspend disbelief now and then (Helen is one of those heroines typical of this genre of book, who, despite knowing there’s a murderer on the loose, tries to open the front door every time someone knocks and spends most of the night wandering around the house on her own, along dark passageways and up and down dimly-lit staircases). Still, Ethel Lina White does a great job of creating an atmosphere of foreboding and fear, not just through stormy weather and shadows, but also through hints that various characters may not be as they seem. Is Lady Warren really unable to walk – and why does she have a gun in her room? And what if Nurse Barker isn’t really a nurse?
I found this a quick, entertaining read, let down slightly by the ending because the killer’s identity wasn’t particularly surprising and their motive was unconvincing. If you’re looking for a cleverly plotted mystery, I think you’ll be disappointed as I would describe this as much more of a psychological horror/suspense novel than a crime novel. It reminded me a lot of Benighted by J.B. Priestley and I think if you enjoyed one there’s a good chance you would enjoy the other. After finishing this book, I watched the film for the first time (it’s currently available on YouTube) and while it’s worth watching in its own right, I didn’t feel that it had much in common with the book!
Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Book 8/20 for 20 Books of Summer 2025.
She Reads Novels 
I enjoyed Fear Stalks the Village so I’ll definitely get around to this one!
I found this a very different type of book from Fear Stalks the Village, but both are great!
I’ve seen the movie but have never read the book. She’s an author high on my TBR list.
There are some big differences between the book and movie, but I enjoyed both.
This was an entertaining one, except for the ending.
Yes, the ending was disappointing.
Between the atmosphere and the premise I really want to try this one sometime. Although it’s definitely disappointing that the ending was a bit of a letdown. I’m also not entirely sure how I’ll get on with suspending my disbelief as a recent read frustrated me a bit when the characters acted illogically. Maybe going in already knowing to expect that I’ll get on okay though 🤔
The heroine definitely didn’t behave logically under the circumstances, but that wasn’t a huge problem! I suppose the way she kept putting herself in dangerous situations just added to the atmosphere and drama. I hope you have a chance to read it at some point.
There’s a short story version of this one too, which appeared in one of the BL’s anthologies a few years ago, and I thought it worked better in that format. Genuinely creepy!
I’m curious about that short story now! I’ll have to see if I can track it down.
It’s called An Unlocked Window, and I read it in the BL’s Murder at the Manor collection. 🙂
Great, thanks!
This book sounds one of those psychological who-dun-its. I think it will be a good read for a lazy weekend!
Yes, I think it’s a perfect weekend read!
She’s such a good author – must get hold of this one!
She’s great, isn’t she? I hope you’re able to read this one soon.
I have read several short stories by this author and enjoyed them. I liked The Wheel Spins but I admit that The Lady Vanishes film was different from the book and had a lot going for it. I had forgotten that I have a copy of The Spiral Staircase, so I will have to read that soon, since you compared it to Benighted by J.B. Priestley, which I also liked a lot.
TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery
I saw The Lady Vanishes first and loved it, so when I read the book I was a bit disappointed that there were so many differences. I enjoyed this one a lot more. I hope you like it!
I really enjoyed this one too – raced through it, and the tension was great. I agree about the denoument, but somehow it didn’t matter. I then watched the classic film, which was great though quite different (e.g. heroine being non-verbal)
I’m glad you enjoyed it too – I found it very entertaining and hard to put down. The film is very different, isn’t it? Good in its own right, but I preferred the book!
Hello Helen, while this wasn’t the best mystery, the atmosphere does sound wonderful. Plus you’ve reminded me how much I love The Lady Vanishes. 😊
Blessings, Jessica 💌
I watched the film version of this book after I finished reading it and it was interesting, but not as good as the book. The Lady Vanishes is great, though – one of my favourites!
Whenever we’re waiting to catch a train from Abergavenny we can see from the platform the mock Tudor chimneys of the house that Ethel Lina White lived in (now a superior holiday let, popular for posh parties) — but I’ve yet to read any of her novels. Must remedy that, mustn’t I? 🤔
Yes, you must! This would be a good one to start with, although the other two books I’ve read are enjoyable as well.