Being more familiar with the work of Margaret Millar’s husband Ross Macdonald than Millar herself, I was quite surprised to find out she is the better writer. Again, AN AIR THAT KILLS / DO EVIL IN RETURN is a case of Stark House Press uncovering another pair of long-forgotten gems. The added bonus this time around is an essay by Tom Nolan, who calls Millar’s writing “post-Freudian.” Do yourself a favor and read the stories first before the essay, since he does discuss some plot points.

The first novel in this two-for-one collection is 1957’s AN AIR THAT KILLS. It’s the story of a seemingly perfect couple, Harry and Thelma Bream. Harry and his friends head out for the weekend out to a lodge in the woods. While waiting for another member of their party, Ron Galloway, to turn up, things take a turn. First comes the notion that their pal Ron is still nowhere to be seen. They call his house and speak to Ron’s wife to see what’s keeping him; she tells them Ron left a long time ago. Then Thelma drops a bombshell: She is pregnant with Ron’s child.

For a book from this era, this is pretty heady stuff. From here on out, you feel like you’re watching a Cassavettes-like couple’s marrriage crumble. AIR continues on like this, mainly playing with more emotion then the kind of bang-bang that you normally expect from this kind of story.

That is until one day, Ron’s car is dragged from the water with Ron still in it, buckled into the front seat. From this point on, I just did not know what to expect. You watch the marriage totally dissolve to the point of Harry threatening his wife with a cap gun. The couple splits, each going their separate ways. Life goes on for both Harry and Thelma, with Thelma running into Ron’s widowed wife, and Harry meeting a new woman while working in the states.

It’s not until the last 15 pages that I finally figured it out. Millar tells you the story she wants you to – to see only certain things. To say you are reading with blinders on is nothing. She leads you down the garden path as if she were leaving a trail of candy, and there you are, following right along.

For the second half of this double feature we have 1950’s DO EVIL IN RETURN. The story of Dr. Charlotte Keating, it opens with a girl named Violet showing up late in the day, needing to talk to her. Violet is “in trouble” and needs the doctor’s help. The word “abortion” is never mentioned, but it’s a given that why Violet is there. After Keating explains she can’t help her, Violet goes on about how it’s not her ex-husband’s baby, and that her uncle sees it as an opportunity for a get-rich-quick scheme, as he plans to blackmail the real daddy.

Keating can’t leave well enough alone and this plunges her into dark territory. She explains what happened to her boyfriend, a married man she is fooling around with and whose wife is a patient of hers. So she pays a visit to Violet’s home, only to be thrown out and told that Violet has left … until the girl’s body turns up in the ocean the next day from a “suicide.”

Keating then has to deal with the uncle and ex, who are trying to blackmail her, as they know about her affair. Then there is the cop who is quite certain that Keating knows more than what she lets on. Again, Millar sets it up so halfway through the book, you are so certain who the killer, only to get sucker punched by the real ending. –Bruce Grossman

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