Home Sweet Home?

Connie returns home from holidays on a late summers night. She is very unsettled from the moment she walks in the door and continually tries to make herself comfortable. Awaiting the arrival of her husband she slowly makes her way around the house with the feeling that someone is listening for her. Again, thinking it is only her mind playing games with her she decides to call her neighbour, Mrs. Winston. Things get from bad to worse when her neighbor gives word of the burglery's and violence in the city in her time being away. Coincidently, her son who has been convicted of numerous crimes has been away also but again Connie she tries to think nothing of it. Soon enough, the pieces come together when Connie discovers the cigarette butts on the floor and a bag of loot in the bedroom. Someone has been using her house as a drop off and they will be back to get it when they find out she has returned. She immediately responds by shutting off all the lights hoping the intruder did not yet see her in the house yet. This is when she notices the house key missing and the broken glass windows in the back door making it impossible to secure it. Connie hears footsteps in the house and goes into hiding. The fear builds inside of her as the dark figure searches high and low his flashlight. Absolutely tramatized by situtation already Connies recognizes the criminal turning her stomach even more. The very second she has a chance to escape she flees from the house running across the lawn to the garage where his motorcycle parked. Quickly she lights it up in flames to send out for a message of help. The sound of the sirens bring tears of overwhelming relief from the feeling of safety. Though her tears are also for the unfortunate Mrs. Winston who is left to deal with the reality of her son's behaviour.

Man Slaughter

Is it a mystery or suspense? When is the suspense introduced?How is it resolved?Did the author include any red herrings?Is the story an example of poetic justice?

A "Lamb to Slaughter" is a suspense short story. Mrs. Maloney is a loving housewife who shows complete compassion for her husband. We are lead into thinking that the pair are solely compatible. After a day of ordinary rutiene, her husband confesses his act of adultery and the tension errupts. He refuses to stay for dinner, but Mrs. Maloney insists that he stay and she goes down to the freezer to grab the meal. The unexpected occurs when Mr.Maloney drops dead when he is struck from behind with a slab of lamb leg. She is fast to think when she flees to the market covering the time in which she then claims the murder took place. When the law officers arrive they are not convinced that she is guilty of murder. They do not suspect a lamb leg to be the murder weapon as they are eating it and Mrs. Maloney is off the hook. The red herring is found in the beginning of the story when the reader is made to believe that Mrs. Maloney is a good and loving housewife. The author then finishes by showing a great example of how looks can be very decieving even in the most unlikely situations. This story is not an example of poetic justice because Mrs. Maloney doen't get punished for the crime that she committed.