The House of Dr. Edwardes is a psychological thriller novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by John Palmer

John Palmer (author)

John Leslie Palmer was a British author. Under his own name, he wrote extensively about early English actors and about British literary figures...

 and Hilary A. Saunders

Hilary Saint George Saunders

Hilary Aidan Saint George Saunders was a British author. Saunders was born in Clifton, near Bristol. During World War I he served with the Welsh Guards....

, under the pseudonym "Francis Beeding".

The plot concerns a psychiatrist at an asylum which is about to get a new director. The new man is attracted to Dr. Constance Sedgwick, who discovers eventually that he is not what he claims to be.

The novel was adapted to film in 1945 as Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

's Spellbound

Spellbound (1945 film)

Spellbound is a psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1945. It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll. It is an adaptation by Angus...

.