Waiting for Willa by Dorothy Eden

Waiting for Willa Reviews

• 
  Julie

  Waiting for Willa by Dorothy Eden was originally published in 1970. Recently, Open Road Media has begun releasing some of Dorothy's backlist in e book format. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Grace receives an unsettling letter from her cousin Willa. Grace and Willa are more like sisters than cousins, although they have entirely different personalities. Willa has been living in Sweden. She gives Grace the code in her letter that indicated she was in trouble. Grace is unsure what to do, so she attempts to contact Willa, but to no avail. Finally, she decides to fly to Sweden to visit Willa and get to the bottom of what the trouble is.
  Upon arrival, Grace is troubled when Willa's landlord informs her Willa is not home and will not be back for bit. When Grace calls Willa's place of business, she is stunned to learn that Willa no longer works there and is about to be married.
  In fact, it's been presumed she just eloped and will be back any day now.
  So, Grace sets herself up in Willa's apartment and waits.
  She meets a few of Willa's neighbors, one neighbor in particular is very interested in helping Grace discover where her unpredictable cousin may have got off to.
  In the meantime, Grace is invited by Willa's former boss to attend a few parties and meet some people that work at the embassy. In order to seek out more information about Willa, she agrees to go.
  She learns more and more as time goes on that no one seems to miss Willa and most people didn't really like her all that much.
  But, Grace is certain they know more than they are telling. The more Grace probes into her cousin's disappearance the stranger and more on edge everyone becomes.
  So, who is the mysterious lover that Willa eloped with? Are the rumors that Willa was pregnant true? Why is everyone so secretive?
  Will Grace ever discover where her cousin went and will she ever come back?
  
  Dorothy Eden was a master of setting up the most unendurable suspense. The set up was fairly simple, but there is a sinister atmosphere so thick you could cut it with a knife.
  Grace is constantly on edge. She finds a diary where Willa had spoken of all the people she was surrounded by before she left. This gives Grace some vague impressions of what may have been going on, as it appears Willa may have been leaving her clues.
  
  This book is not all that long, but it packs a mighty punch. Again, I was struck by how ahead of her time Dorothy Eden was.
  I give this one an A.
  Hopefully in the next day or so, I will have an author spotlight of Dorothy Eden up on my blog. Check it out at
  http://www.cluereview.blogspot.com.
• 
  Dorcas

  This book is comparable to an early afternoon Lifetime channel mystery. It is 1969 and we have a rather brassy, loose young woman named Willa who goes missing, leaving a string of male acquaintances behind supposedly scratching their heads. Willa's cousin Grace senses something amiss and arrives in Sweden to unravel the clues and keep herself out of danger.
  
  It's ok. A quick, cozy sort of mystery if it wasn't also a bit sordid. Not a keeper for me.
  
  CONTENT:
  Sex: one scene fade to black, talk of infidelities, abortion etc
  
• 
  Lesle

  Willa and Grace are cousins, but really are more like Sisters, but are more like twins in how they know each other and have this special way of letting Willa ask for help without anyone else knowing. Grace receives this clue!
  Arriving in Stockholm and Willa's apartment Grace finds Willa gone. After contacting Willa's boss she realizes there is much more to Willa vanishing than she is being told. Grace is smart and logical, but the information given just makes her wander more and ask anyone willing to talk questions to help find Willa.
  
  Normally right or wrong I have an idea of what happened. The clues are clueless.
  I had more questions with each clue, just did not make sense what was surrounding Willa's disappearance.
  The last chapter once past the diary entries let me down with no pretty bow at the end. Left me wondering what happened with Gustav and the others involved.
  
  Dorothy Eden's writing flows well. You can tell she has a creative ability to make
  the story uncertain and parts unexpected.
  
  'I've made a decision, but I'm not sure if it's the right one. Yet there is simply no other way...Wilhlmina'
• 
  William

  A brisk little suspense novel about Grace, a young British novelist who answers a distress letter from her cousin Willa, who has been working as a secretary at the British embassy in Stockholm. Intense and private, Grace is the opposite of her cousin, whose fondness for drama, extravagant living--and men--seems to have caused ripples in a tiny circle of neighbors, colleagues and friends...and perhaps is why she has vanished. The reader follows Grace into the nooks and crannies of Willa's life and through the evocative Swedish setting as she searches for the answers to the mystery of what has happened to Willa. Eden's characterizations are deftly done and the pace never lags in this enjoyable thriller that can easily be read in one sitting.
• 
  Peacha

  Grace’s drab life gets a jolt of excitement when she flies off to Sweden after getting a cryptic message from her cousin Willa --signed Wilhelmina (for distress.) But Willa’s disappeared leaving behind some bitter, annoyed and suspicious acquaintances, not to mention some odd clues -- barbaric fairy tales she told her bosses children and a cryptic diary written in code. Is Willa caught up in a desperate situation and on the run or has she been kidnaped? Wonderful quick paced mystery with lots of mod gothic touches - ( Willa was quite mapcap - dying her hair canary yellow, wearing huge butterfly sunglasses and silk pantaloons! ) Keeps you guessing!
• 
  Karen

  Just finished reading this for the second time. It had been so long since I first read it that I couldn't recall the ending. What a wonderful mystery, set in a gloomy, cold, dark forest in Sweden for the most part. Grace's cousin Willa has disappeared and Grace, an English novelist, takes off for Sweden to find her. This book captured my attention and I couldn't put it down. What a page turner! I felt like I was there in Sweden with Grace and her professor friend Polsen. I can't say enough good things about this book. Dorothy Eden at her best.
  
  
  
• 
  Sandra

  Willa sounded like a fool, so I didn't really care what she was up to and whether or not she would come back.
• 
  C. (Never PM. Comment, or e-mail if private!)

  “Waiting For Willa” sounded like a gothic adventure. It wasn’t but I love variation. I revel in it, when authors veer from the expected. Stories should be appraised for what they are. The story I found within was not a U-turn but a whole other genre. It was a dark journey, which is something I can enjoy too but all the way to the conclusion; this was grim and dour and not at all an outcome I consider rewarding. I am stunned by it, unfortunately not in a pleased way.
  
  I certainly commend the uniqueness. Sinister suspense permeated this novel. That is a good trait and I enjoyed the rush of fictional anxiety, if only there were an ending requiting the long state of mistrustfulness. I loved most of all a sojourn that showed me what Stockholm, Sweden was like! It is a rare setting in English language literature and I was enthralled with that. Grace and Willa are sister-like cousins of twin Mothers; she a reserved author, Willa a party girl. Like many close kin make childhood pacts; theirs was a covert signal of trouble, if “Wilhelmina” should ever sign a note with her dreaded full name. Presumably, Grace herself never planned for future peril.
  
  I liked the realism of the situation. Grace finds Willa’s apartment empty and can think of nothing but to stay there and question co-workers. They are English ex-patriots at a consulate. Everyone is astonished to find Willa has a champion: an intelligent, loyal, determined one. I’m not in agreement that there wasn’t cause to alert police straightaway and thought the eventually unearthed motive flimsy against the outcome. It’s dismaying to find that Willa’s letters didn’t forebode real danger when they were written and agonizing that she had been in unnervingly close proximity to Grace.
• 
  Frank Weeden

  I read this in Cozumel, Mexico, in October, 2005, stuck in the Casa del Mar hotel, waiting for hurricane Wilma to hit. Of all of the books that guests had left in the little library in the basement of the hotel, this was one that looked interesting. I enjoyed it a lot. I know some of the other reviewers have been less than kind, but it was a good mystery that wasn't ruined by a lot of gratuitous sex. It was just a solid piece of writing that I really enjoyed, and took my mind off of the growing bad news via NOAA, as we waited.
• 
  Dramatica Darmody

  I was rather disappointed with this book. Had I gone into it intending to read a mystery alone, it may not have been so.
  However I read it hoping for a good old Gothic romance but the romantic interest was thoroughly unappealing.
  And truth be told even the mystery aspect had over stayed its welcome quite a few chapters before the book's actual end.
• 
  Karen

  This is my first read by Dorothy Eden and I'm not sure if I would actively seek out any more of her work, but I have to admit, she did keep me reading to find out what happens. I read this for a classics challenge and will include my comments there here rather than re-writing all of it.
  I thought Grace was too quick to trust Polsen and assumed from the start, incorrectly obviously, that he was involved - especially after he came back from Uppsala the same weekend Willa was found. Polsen was pretty darn quick on the first kiss thing, no? :) I found the time frame hard to keep up with - it seems he went in for the kiss the second day he knew her. The story takes place in a much shorter time period than it seemed I think. But, as awkward as they were together, I'm glad they ended up with each other.
  
  I also was a bit disappointed in the ending as far as not hearing from the characters that were finally caught - especially Peter. I wanted their take on what they had been involved in and how they felt about being caught and about Grace finally getting some resolution. The family crest ring story was kind of weak. Why would Willa fixate on something like that if she could have had nearly anything else short of a diamond engagement ring? And oh my goodness, how mean were all of those people to Grace about her cousin? Geez. And why did Grace put up with all of their nastiness?
  
  I'm not sure I understood the party part of the plot - where Grace played the part of Willa. It was weird and didn't flow well - just seemed like an awkward bit of writing. Would she really have a party a week into her stay? Again, the time frame was hard to figure out. I guess they were looking for reactions - especially among those who might already know that Willa was dead, if she was. Good thought, I just thought it could have been written a bit more seamlessly. I also thought that the book was going to end with some kind of psychotic break on Grace's part where she just completely assumed the identity of Willa - Psycho anyone?
  
  In all, a good atmospheric story that could have been written better, tighter, but was probably considered quite well-written and avant guarde in its time. I did enjoy the Swedish setting - I don't often read books from countries other than the US and the UK or some of the mainstream European countries for whatever reason. Thanks to Never Too Late To Read Classics for bringing Dorothy Eden to my attention!
• 
  Sarah Goodfield

  Didn't enjoy this as much as some of her others. Grace gets a letter from her cousin, willa who works in the embassy at Stockholm, but she signed it wilhemina which was her code word for help. But Grace leaves it a week before she flies to Stockholm to go see her and by that time willa has already disappeared. Apparently she quit her job and eloped, but the more of willas friends she talks to, the more she thinks something bad has happened. She eventually discovered that willa was having an affair with a married man, and was pregnant. But no one knows where she is! Instead of contacting the police, Grace tries to solve the mystery herself, with the help of polsen, willas neighbour. But in the end its too late. Willa WAS having an affair with a married man and when she discovered he was a spy, she tried to blackmail him into hurrying up and leaving his wife and children. It backfired. And all the group of friends and colleagues tried to cover it all up. The story was written in the late 60's and so times were different then, but I couldn't help feeling irritated by Grace's lack of sense of urgency that her cousin was missing, instead taking word for it from everyone (who were all in on it) that willa was safe, when she wasn't.
• 
  Katie

  Potential crime drama meets du Maurier's always-off-the-page Rebecca with a tiny dash of meet-cute romance (amid some very unromantic relationships). Not overly dramatic or graphic, but nice pacing and tension-building. Lots of potential bad guys/gals as well as possible motives woven together for fun readerly guessing of whodunit and why. Actually, even figuring out if any crime occurred is engaging, too. It doesn't need the unreliable narrator of more modern mysteries to create page turns, either.
• 
  Mary Hart

  3.5 stars
  
  Bit of an odd read. I thought Grace liked Willa at the start and was keen to rescue her but over the book her opinions of Willa seems to change to almost disrespect at the end. I didn't get why Willa wanted Grace over in Stockholm unless it was to force the Lover to come up to the mark...the writing is quite atmospheric and gothic...and then to find out at the end that most of them new what was going on was very disappointing...
• 
  Bùi Nghĩa

  Nhân vật bị mất tích Willa thì có một tính cách chả ra gì mà bà chị họ miêu tả như nữ thần ngây thơ sống động. Cách mở nút của vụ mất tích như trò hề, chả xứng đáng là truyện bí ẩn/trinh thám. Chuyện tình giữa hai nhân vật chính gượng ép mà nhân vật nam còn chưa chia tay với vợ. Đúng là xứng đáng chị chị em em.
• 
  Ginny Thurston

  An interesting book if you like figuring clues for a mystery...which I do. The setting and tone reminded me of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but the characters are not nearly as interesting, and it is not nearly as well- written.
• 
  Snickerdoodle

  What's going on with Willa? What's happened to her, where is she, is she okay? Her cousin Grace is left with a cast of potential suspects and clues galore. It's a fairly quick and easy read, no blood and guts, no descriptions of violence - just a mystery to solve.
• 
  Christine Mathieu

  I've read it many years ago and in my memory it was better, but still a nice read.
  One of the few books by Dorothy Eden that I really enjoyed.
  The location is Sweden, Stockholm and the woods at Maelar Lake.
• 
  Suzanne

  2.5 stars
• 
  Angela

  Gothic romance
  
  Gothic romance, my favorite, ever since I was a young girl reading Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt. I’m just now reading Edens books.
• 
  Carrie Dalby

  3.5 stars
  A fun "modern" (1969 set, published in 1970) romantic suspense read from Eden. Enjoyed the Stockholm setting and the intrigue, though I prefer her historical sagas.
• 
  Laurie

  During my early 20s, when I was really hooked on gothics, Dorothy Eden's books stood out as remarkably readable. I can't COUNT the number of times I've read this one, even though I know the outcome -- it's just told so well, the characters still keep me guessing and the atmosphere, the forests and city of Stockholm in 1969, surprisingly still spooks me. (Definition of foreboding: see this novel.) If you're looking for coffee beans to neutralize your nose in-between test sniffs at the perfume counter, pick up one of Eden's novels. "Airs Above the Ground" would be another recommendation. I've gotten rid of many of my old books over the years (gasp!) but have held on to all my paperback Edens.
• 
  Kathryn Flatt

  Another "old love" this one. The combination of a mystery with an amateur sleuthe and a romantic interest in fact eventually became my style as well. I loved the atmosphere created here, a mini-travelogue of Sweden. And trying to figure out which of the men in the life of Willa, who has gone missing, is the mysterious lover she refers to as Gustav in her diary is a worthy puzzle. This is the kind of book I would want to read on a dark winter night by the fire.
• 
  Ulla

  I really enjoyed this 1970's paperback thriller, maybe partly because it takes place in Stockholm and the surroundings. I'd never even heard of Dorothy Eden before but I'm sure I'll be reading more books by her!