Waldo ridicules Mark for his growing interest in Laura. He’s content to talk about her with Mark, endlessly turning her over in his mind like one of his objets d’art. Even Waldo, who remains obsessed with Laura, doesn’t miss her as a person. Yet none of them seem to mourn her very much. Her friends all swear that Laura was the kindest person they ever met, generous to a fault. The period between-the hyphen of marriage-is best forgotten.” The coquettish Susan doesn’t cry at her niece’s funeral, but she takes to her bed when she thinks Shelby has gone away. Susan Treadwell, Laura’s aunt, “once sang in musical comedy. She even made him the beneficiary of her life insurance. Laura picked him up, found him a job at her firm, and lent him money. Might he have done the same to Laura? Her fiancé Shelby Carpenter is an impoverished southern gentleman. Waldo introduced her to high society, considering her his “heroine…my greatest creation.” An avid collector, Waldo once smashed a vase he coveted but could not own. Waldo is a famous newspaper columnist who “discovered” Laura when she convinced him to endorse a line of pens for her advertising agency. Mark searches for answers among the Park Avenue parasites who make up Laura’s world. When she opened the door, they shot her in the face. But she never showed up for dinner and she never left for Connecticut. Before leaving, she planned to have dinner with Waldo, as she did every Friday night. Laura was supposed to spend the week before her wedding at her country house in Connecticut. By the time his narrative resumes at the end of the story, we begin to see how sadly mistaken he has been, about Laura and about himself.Įveryone agrees on the basic facts. Initially we accept Waldo as an authoritative narrator, believing him honest because he is willing to be cruel. Each character adds a slightly different perspective. We also hear from Mark and (in flashback) Laura herself. The victim’s best friend Waldo, “the heavyweight Noël Coward,” is only one of the narrators of the novel.

But that’s not Vera Caspary’s Laura, it’s Waldo Lydecker’s. Laura is dead, and Mark is the detective assigned to investigate her murder.Īt least, that’s the summary of Laura that’s usually put forth, influenced by the excellent 1944 film adaptation. There’s only one obstacle to their relationship. It’s easy to see how Mark McPherson fell in love with her. Laura Hunt was smart, beautiful, and successful. But I warn you, McPherson, the activities of crooks and racketeers will seem simple in comparison with the motives of a modern woman.” She had no secret fortune, no hidden rubies. “To solve the puzzle of her death, you must first resolve the mystery of Laura’s life.

Laura by vera caspary