Waltz into Darkness

When a long-distance romance leads to betrayal, an obsessed man descends into madness in a chilling classic from “the supreme master of suspense” (New York Times).

When New Orleans coffee merchant Louis Durand first meets his bride-to-be after a months-long courtship by mail, he’s shocked that she doesn’t match the photographs sent with her correspondence. But Durand has told his own fibs, concealing from her the details of his wealth—so he mostly feels fortunate to find her so much more beautiful than expected. Soon after they marry, however, he becomes increasingly convinced that the woman in his life is not the same woman with whom he exchanged letters, a fact that becomes unavoidable when she suddenly disappears with his fortune.

Alone, desperate, and inexplicably lovesick, Louis quickly descends into madness, obsessed with finding Julia and bringing her to justice—and simply seeing her again. He engages the services of a private detective to do so, embarking on a search that spans the southeast of the country. When he finally tracks her down, the nightmare truly begins . . .

A dark tale of the destructive power of love, and the basis for a Francois Truffaut film, Waltz into Darkness is a classic femme-fatale narrative that shows the Edgar Award-winning “father of the modern suspense story” (Los Angeles Times) at the top of his unsettling craft.

“A richly embroidered tapestry . . . this is classic noir well worthy of a revival.”― Booklist

“Excellent.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Originally published under the name William Irish