In Mignon Eberhart’s 1957 novel, Another Man’s Murder, the female heroine is Dodie Howard. She is a supporting character and the love interest of the main protagonist, Casey Clarey. In this romantic suspense novel, the narrator often describes Dodie from Casey’s point of view.
Dodie is a beautiful woman. Seeing her after an absence of six years, Casey is “thunderstruck by her unexpected and vivid beauty” (13). His physical attraction to her is evident throughout the novel. His “glance strayed to Dodie’s slender bare brown legs” (46); her shorts and shirt “outlined her figure” (95); and she has a “generous mouth” (102). Standing near her, “he was aware… of the deep resolute blue of her eyes” (95). The narrator’s focus on Dodie’s beauty and Casey’s positive response suggests that female beauty has value. Eventually, Casey realizes he loves Dodie, and her beauty is one reason for his attraction to her.
Dodie has other traits that make her an ideal life partner for Casey. An intelligent young woman, she often gives him counsel and wisdom. When footprints are found near the murder scene, she warns him not to tell anyone about the scar on his foot (32), and she exhorts him: “You mustn’t leave Blanchard’s again” (102). Dodie wants what is best for Casey and is always looking out for his interests. She is steadfast and loyal to him.
In the face of danger, Dodie is willing to risk her life. As Casey is about to enter John’s cottage, he whispers, “Stay here”, but she refuses (102). Casey observes that she “could be as stubborn as a mule” (108). Dodie is not someone that Casey can control. She is an independent woman who makes her own decisions.
Despite her mental strength, there are moments when Dodie is emotionally vulnerable. Casey observes how “her hand was trembling a little—Dodie’s hand, always so firm and resolute” (106). When she is attacked by the murderer, she screams (131). Dodie experiences fear and terror, a common trait of female characters in the romantic suspense genre. Knowing Dodie is vulnerable to a man’s violence, Casey tries to protect her. Outside John’s cottage, he “thrust Dodie behind him instinctively when he went up the steps” (104). In the romantic suspense genre, a male character will prove his love for a woman by trying to protect her.
Dodie doesn’t have the physical strength to fight the murderer. When the murderer tries to strangle her, there is nothing she can do to defend herself. He flees because he heard Casey shouting her name (131). Dodie needs a man’s protection—she is a damsel in distress, and Casey is her rescuer. This results in a stronger emotional bond between the two characters.
Dodie also tries to protect Casey, so he won’t be found guilty of murder. After the judge is murdered, she doesn’t tell the sheriff everything she knows, fearing that it might incriminate Casey. She also destroys evidence at the murder scene, dragging brush over the footprints that appeared to be Casey’s (58). To protect the man she loves, she risks being charged with a crime. Casey and Dodie prove their love for each other by the risks they take to protect each other.
Dodie is a woman in peril, targeted by a murderer for the knowledge that she possesses. But Eberhart’s female heroine is not a passive character. She is an equal partner with Casey, supporting him in the problems he faces. Without Dodie’s help, he might have been found guilty of a crime he did not commit. He is in peril, just as much as she is, albeit in different ways.
Works Cited
Eberhart, Mignon G. Another Man’s Murder. Popular Library, 1957.
Christopher Lindsay 