Charles Honeybath, a portraitist with the artist’s innate
curiosity and thus possessing of detective talents, heads to Mullion Castle to
paint a portrait of Lady Mullion, wife of his old schoolmate. After arriving at
the large country house - which is open to (pick one) tourists, travelers,
gawkers on Wednesdays and Saturdays - Honeybath encounters an entrancingly
eccentric community in which, oddly enough, eccentric things happen. On top of
the title echoing another
sensational Gothic novel, Aunt Camilla wanders about the place at night. In
a socially transgressive romance even for the late 1970s, Mullion's daughter
and a smart young gardener fall for each other.
Why, for example, has a valuable miniature been exchanged
for a less than deft reproduction, and who has taken such a risky action since
an artist like Honeybath would surely notice such a substitution? And what of
this self-confident gardener's assistant, in whose apartment the Italian
watercolors of Lord Mullion's old and somewhat quirky Aunt Camilla are rediscovered
completely unexpectedly? What of the vicar, Dr. Atlay, a close confidant of Miss
Camilla in their halcyon days? The whole family seems enveloped in mystery and
unanswered questions such as what happened to Aunt Camilla in Italy in the
1920s.
There is no inevitable murder in this mystery, making it a very light entertainment perfect for a summer read. The characters are highly entertaining in the Dickensey style, with funny dialogue, intelligence turns of phrase, and learned references and allusions. Innes likes the twist that throws both characters and readers for a loop. Besides this one, Innes wrote only five mysteries - all of them light entertainments - starring the artist detective, The Mysterious Commission, Honeybath's Haven and Appleby and Honeybath.
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