A Game of Statues

by Anne Stevenson

Everything was just fine. There was really nothing to worry about. Or was there? Things were no longer quite the same at Mrs. Sendall's home. Ginny and her young son Ben had moved in. Ginny was trying to forget the accident that had made her a widow, and at first her new home was like a dream come true. But soon strange things began to happen. Ghosts in the garden, warnings to Mrs. Sendall to sell the house, and old man killed in a fall in the church. When two young men, Robert Travis and James Aldous, appeared on the scene, Ginny began to think of love. But which one? Because one of them was responsible for all those mysterious accidents -- one of them was capable of murder.

Genres: Gothic

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Felicity Avery (Anne Stevenson, pen name) was born in Cardiff in 1928, she read History at St. Anne’s at the University of Oxford from 1946 to 1949. After her degree, she worked as historical archivist for the Holland-Martin banking family, before turning to journalism and fiction, which was initially published in the form of short stories and serials in magazines and journals. Composed under the nom de guerre of Anne Stevenson, her first novel, Ralph Dacre, was immediately snapped up by Billy Collins in 1967 and quickly became a best seller. It was followed by eight further novels that spanned various genres from thrillers to historical sagas. She has variously been compared to Mary Stewart and, in her pared-down shorter fiction, to Graham Greene and during her most prolific years in 1960s and 1970s, she gathered a considerable number of loyal readers for her intelligent, well-crafted thrillers.

She was married to the economic journalist and naval historian, Ronald Avery (1915-1996) and spent the last years of her life in Oxford, before losing her fight with breast cancer in 2008. She is survived by her daughter, Anne Louise, and grandson, Inigo. There are plans to republish her works in the next couple of years, following a resurgence of interest in her fiction.

Reviews

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From 1972. The "Game of Statues" refers to the children's game. A likeable gothic thriller/mystery about gentle British village life.