Bruce Adams's Blog - Posts Tagged "vintage"

How many books have you found in a box somewhere? In the case of The Portcullis Room, my father-in-law was foisting some old books in the basement he felt had to go. It came home with some choice others. Turns out the author, Valentine Williams wrote a bunch of Country House mysteries. The Portcullis Room takes place in a castle on a Scottish isle. Williams does his best to make the Scottish characters in the book dour and inscrutable, but the book lacks a clear cut protagonist. As an American of Scottish descent I find the portrayals to be laughable. So why did I grab it and why did I read it? Because it's an old book. And I'm the kind of guy who grabs old books if they're offered to me.