The Better to Eat You — Charlotte Armstrong

Sarah Shepherd, Professor David Wakely's new summer-research assistant, is a shy, bookish blonde with an overprotective family. In fact, it was at their insistence that he work in the cottage on their seaside estate so that Sarah could be close to home. What the professor soon discovers is that Sarah is the heir to a large inheritance which, like the Hope Diamond, seems to put a curse on her rather than bring her good fortune. Disaster has touched everyone with whom she has had any close relation. Wakely sees a lovely, frightened young woman he longs to protect. And a few close brushes with death show him that disaster is now stalking him -- and the culprit may be only a stone's throw away.