She isn’t intimidated by Harper House-nor by its mistress. Trying to escape the ghosts of the past, young widow Stella Rothchild, along with her two energetic little boys, has moved back to her roots in southern Tennessee. And for as long as anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has walked the halls, singing lullabies at night…

The conclusion of the film and the actual reveal of the killer are a little unsatisfying for my taste, but let's not quibble over the destination when the journey was so much fun.Against the backdrop of a house steeped in history and a thriving new gardening business, three women unearth the memories of the past in the first novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts' In the Garden Trilogy.Ī Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-old mansion just outside of Memphis. The wife (Doris Dowling) is a truly unrepentant figure, even going so far as to laugh in her husband's face as she decribes the death of their son. In fact, this might be one of the only noire films where the true villain of the picture was the victim herself. He also seems to have gotten in over his head with the events surrounding him, and he's clearly trying to wrestle loose of them. He's clearly meant to be the bad guy of the film, but he's one of the least violent characters of the lot. The William Bendix character is quite memorable, but I feel like the Eddie Harwood character is the most understated of the lot. With it's tough guy lead, bizarre affectations and lurid situations, The Blue Dahlia is just about as pulpy as it gets. But who murdered his wife? Was it Eddie, the man with the dark past back east, or perhaps it was even his army buddy Buzz (Bendix), whose war wound causes him to lose his mind everytime he hears loud music? And where does Eddie's wife (Veronica Lake) fit into all this? Is she a co-conspirator or is her meeting with Johnny just a coincidence? The next morning, she's found dead, and a manhunt for Johnny ensues. When she reveals to Johnny that it was her drunk driving that was responsible for their son's death, he leaves her to never come back. Alan Ladd plays Johnny Morrison, who's come home to an alcholic, two-timing wife that shows interest only in drinking, partying and her nightclub owner boyfriend Eddie. Returning home after WWII, a GI (Alan Ladd) and his two buddies (William Bendix, Hugh Beaumont) get mixed up in some nefarious business.

The blue dahlia book