Another face, cool and smiling, framed against another rose arch, fifteen years ago. Cool in spite of the summer heat; smiling for the last time before the fearful discovery was made ... The holidays have begun. This has unexpectedly shot to one of my top ranking for the wonderful Celia Fremlin, an author seemingly being rediscovered thanks to Faber. The setting is slightly atypical as Fremlin usually specialises in suburban unease - here the families are just as dysfunctional but there is the added fun and hilarity of taking them out of their usual habitat and dumping them down at the seaside complete with 1950s inconveniences (the caravan door that won't open unless you hurl your body at it), unpredictable British weather (rain one minute, hot sunshine the next), sand in the sandwiches... and the hovering spectre of a potential murderer out from a prison sentence and seeking revenge. But their half-sister Mildred has returned to a nearby coastal cottage where her husband - the mysterious Uncle Paul - was arrested for his first wife's attempted murder: and family skeletons emerge. Celia Fremlin’s Uncle Paul is an engrossing, slow-burning psychological thriller that skilfully blends suspense, family dynamics and the infuriating complexities of human relationships. Originally published in 1959, its gripping narrative and insightful exploration of the psyche ensure that it remains surprising and impactful despite certain aspects of the story now appearing a tad dated. The exploration of family dynamics is another strength of Uncle Paul. Fremlin delves into the complexities of the relationships among the sisters and between them and their loved ones, exposing the underlying tensions and conflicts that often exist within families. The portrayal of the strained relations between Isabel and her new husband, as well as the uncertain bond between Meg and the Bertie Wooster-esque Freddy, add depth to the narrative and reinforce the notion that anyone could be harbouring secrets.

Excellent book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a Christie or a psychological slow burn thriller. Once reunited with the nervous, jumpy, Isabel, Meg finds it is a worse situation than she imagined. Fifteen years ago, Mildred discovered that her husband, Meg and Isabel’s, ‘Uncle Paul,’ was not who he seemed and he went to prison. Now, Mildred is convinced that he is out and about to extract his revenge…. Yes, this book is entertaining, there are some funny moments and it's clever, but still I ask myself - the point? Fremlin's point - is there a purpose beyond the entertainment value?In this Waterstones Thriller of the Month, as recommended on BBC Radio 4's Open Book, one family's skeletons emerge on a 1950s seaside summer holiday in this classic mystery from 'Britain's Patricia Highsmith' and the 'grandmother of psycho-domestic noir' ( Sunday Times ) This book is full of tension and suspicion, which is all created by rumour, supposition and the vagaries of the human mind. Nothing graphic actually happens, but the author manages to create fear nonetheless, simply by letting then imaginations of the main protagonists run riot. Soon everyone is suspicious of everyone else and no one knows who they can trust, even their nearest and dearest. It has a similar feel to some of Elizabeth Taylor's novels, set in the 50s. I was reminded of The Sleeping Beauty (1953) which also has a south coast seaside setting. There is an odd referral to - The Sleeping Beauty, in Fremlin's novel which happens to be a sort of peep-show on the pier - a sleeping snake! If you like Agatha Christie and/or Patricia Highsmith, you will enjoy this book very much. If you are looking for an Enid Blyton-esque read, maybe not so much!

Now, on his release from prison, is he returning for revenge, seeking who betrayed him? Or are all three women letting their nerves get the better of them? Though who really is Meg's new lover? And whose are those footsteps?

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I loathed the characters of Isabel and Mildred, the elder sisters of Meg, our narrator, who is calm, rational and stable in contrast to the silly-willy, dithering, blethering, can't ever decide on anything Isabel, 10 years senior to Meg, and then Mildred is stubborn, rich, spoilt, purposeless and worse, as the plot develops. I can understand perhaps, that Isabel and Mildred are stereotypes of house-wifey, no career, no degree, middle-class women, who probably got on Fremlin's nerves; but really where is this going?

Celia was born in Kingsbury, now part of London, England. She was the daughter of Heaver Fremlin and Margaret Addiscott. Her older brother, John H. Fremlin, later became a nuclear physicist. Celia studied at Somerville College, Oxford University. From 1942 to 2000 she lived in Hampstead, London. In 1942 she married Elia Goller, with whom she had three children; he died in 1968. In 1985, Celia married Leslie Minchin, who died in 1999. Her many crime novels and stories helped modernize the sensation novel tradition by introducing criminal and (rarely) supernatural elements into domestic settings. Her 1958 novel The Hours Before Dawn won the Edgar Award in 1960.But, gradually, the ominous and sinister start to encroach further eek, the cobra in Meg's bedroom! though we're kept hovering between knowing whether there is material danger stalking the sisters or whether it's just paranoia. It all comes to a glorious climax which is, arguably, more 'psychological' than some of Fremlin's later books. Several months ago, I read The Hours Before Dawn, one of the most electrifying thrillers that I can ever remember reading. It was compact, compelling and it captured an aspect of the human experience - maternal sleep deprivation.- which has been unfairly neglected in fiction. When I spotted that several other Celia Fremlin novels have also been reissued, I was immediately keen to discover more. And so I landed up on Uncle Paul, which has the spine-chilling tag-line 'Welcome to the Nightmare Summer Holiday'. I tried reading it a couple of months ago during my own holiday to Whitby but given that the book is set around a young woman going to help out her frazzled sister who is taking her two young children on a seaside break, it felt a little much at the time. Flash forward to autumn and it was a fine hair-raising tale for a chilly evening.

Fremlin is always wonderful for her acute observations and for the social history embedded in her books and, for the first half, the creepy element felt like an add on to me that rather distracted from all the delights of awkward children (Cedric, the boy who knows everything; Peter and 'sharkie' who lives under the caravan steps), squabbling with fellow guests at a nearby hotel over when to light a fire, and the inevitable colonel who wants to run everything.I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The cover looks like the front of an Enid Blyton Famous Five story. The blurb reads like Agatha Christie. The author is billed as ‘Britain’s Patricia Highsmith.’ Which os these was going to be closest to the reality of the book? Turns out, it was a thing all of its own. Aside from Meg being an engaging and relatable protagonist, the other characters in Uncle Paul are also vividly depicted. Fremlin displays a sharp eye for detail and sometimes brutal characterisation in populating the caravan park and hotel in Southcliffe with an eclectic group of people who seem highly likely to be found in a 1950s British seaside resort, particularly one that is playing host to a mystery. Uncle Paul turned out to be a 1959 slow-burn, psychological thriller. Throughout the narrative, you keep wondering if anything is indeed happening or if our characters are ‘just’ somehow paranoiac, imagining threat where there is none. I think it delivered - well, I was satisfied - but I wouldn’t say this is to the level of Patricia Highsmith. Pretty decent nonetheless. What I did really like was the voice and writing style. The descriptions as indeed all the asides the characters made were fascinating, like a painting made of words. I giggled several times, re-read certain sentences often, savouring the “slice of life” depicted. A good weekend read :O) Now, on his release from prison, is he returning for revenge, seeking who betrayed him? Or are all three women letting their nerves get the better of them? Though who really is Meg’s new lover? And whose are those footsteps …?