Thursday, October 18, 2007

The Tempest


Today Chicagoland is anticipating extremely high winds, stormy weather and possible funnel clouds. This is not my favorite weather, but it puts me in mind of great literature, of course. Aside from remembering Shakespeare, who wrote of storms that were harbingers of significant events, I'm trying to hearken back to my favorite mystery writers, and whether or not I can recall great storm scenes.

One that leaps to mind happens at the end of Mary Stewart's THE IVY TREE; her heroine must brave a storm to save two lives, and ultimately she risks her own. It is a terrific scene, spanning a couple of chapters because it is the climax of the novel.

Can anyone recall another good storm scene in a mystery?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't Wildfire at Midnight (also by Mary Stewart) have a storm scene on the side of a mountain or cliff or something?

Julia Buckley said...

That sounds right--although I think it was a snow storm, because people were frozen, as I recall.