A Man from the Mist

Scottish Duo #1

by Mary Elgin

A young widow travels to Scotland after the death of her husband in Cyprus. She becomes the housekeeper for a retired major. She meets a young engineer in the mist when lost hiking on a Scottish mountain, thereby unleashing local past clan tensions to a menacing pitch.

Genres: Romance, Scotland, Contemporary, Gothic

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Mary Elgin (1917-1965) wrote only three books that are known but is considered the closest thing to Mary Stewart. Her books are contemporary gothics with humor and charm.

Reviews

[Diane Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very young widow accepts a position in the Scottish highlands. Her alternative was to return to an over bearing mother. This heroine wants to go her on way. Well written gothic, complete with mists and craggy peaks and of course getting lost!

I’d like to find this authors, Highland Masquerade.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must love the Scottish highlands because I have many favorite books set there. Now all I need to do is travel there to see them myself. This is one I reread often.

A much enjoyed, connected book with several of the characters is "Highland Masquerade."

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended if you can find a copy!

[Evelyn Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books, I like the whole of the book even if I can't quite identify why. If I break down the components of this book, there's a lot to DISlike. But I like the whole book all the same.

Warning: If you don't like insta-love stories, this one will irritate you. The hero sees the heroine and falls madly in love with her.

The story unfolds slowly. The dialogue is clunky at times. At one point, the heroine says, "You talk nonsense and I behave absurdly." (And I found myself agreeing with her on both points.) Some of the arguments the H/h have seem contrived.

None the less, I like this book. This is not a very clear, analytical review, and I apologize for that. In the end, despite all its flaws, I would give this book a thumbs up.

[Soothing Rays · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book half torn in a back shelf of my College library but I am glad I found it.

The writing is beautiful and almost poetic in its description.The best thing about the book is that the protagonist is easily likeable and innocent.
I hope to pick up more books by the author.

[Charybdis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Though this is "A Bantam Gothic Novel" it doesn't qualify as a gothic at all. The back blurb is cheating again; there's no "secret horror", no "half-crazed major tortured by love and despair", no "Scottish moors, shrouded in mist, pregnant with danger and menace". Umm, forgive me, there was mist! And our hero even turned up in that mist, so the title is no lie. Yay! Originally the book was published (in 1963) under the title "Visibility Nil" and I can see why they changed that.

The book started out well: a 21 year old girl, Catherine, becomes a widow when her husband is shot during military service in Cyprus. It's the 1950s. For her it's a relief as she admits she hated her husband. I immediately hoped for the scenario that she might have shot him herself, which would be revealed only near the end of the book. Nope. Next she tells us about how this marriage came about and how her mother had treated her during her youth. Wow, perhaps another victim for our vindictive heroine? Nope, again.
Catherine has no money and no proper work training, so she is glad to find a job as housekeeper in a remote Scottish place, working for an elderly major who is temporarily physically handicapped. There's a little map in the book which helps the reader visualize the setting. There are a few interesting houses but none get very important for the story. The heroine never encounters menacing situations or people, though she is scared one time being lost in the mist. So what's it all about? I think it is a book about the growth of a young woman who has been disappointed over and over again in life and finally realizes she can be happy with her future. The only "mystery" in the book is the death of the major's beloved daughter. She apparently killed herself over our hero. This could have been turned into a frightening situation, like perhaps the daughter had gotten pregnant by her doting parent and he had killed her himself. Then when the heroine refused the advances of the major in favor of the hero, he could have grabbed a pistol and threaten her life as well, in the meantime confessing to the deed. Nope, once more with feeling!

Overall, the writing was quite good. The author used some blatant coincidences, a major (pun intended) pet peeve of mine. The heroine was sympathetic and sensible despite the circumstances of her youth. The Bantam book was very badly glued and it is ripe for the waste paper bin by now. But applause for the author who described an event that could be used for the cover: girl fleeing a house.

My verdict: a 2 out of 10, mainly because it doesn't live up to being the proclaimed "gothic". If I had expected it to be a regular romance novel, it could have gotten an 8, because I liked how the heroine didn't jump at the chance to marry the hero as soon as he proposed, but she realized that many things could go wrong and she was quite happy with her current freedom.

[Michelle Ule]

Her first book, this is a romantic story of a recent military widow who rather than returning home to England and a fawning mother who thinks she knows best, accepts a spot in the Scottish highlands.

Naturally she falls in love with a engineer up to work on the dam, who doesn't see her until a romantic interlude on top of a mist-shrouded mountain. There's the usual colorful local characters, a man who doesn't recognize no for an answer, and a flight home--where our heroine learns who she really is and how to stand up for herself.

They all lived happily ever after.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this while I was home sick from work yesterday, and it was just the right thing. There was a bit of a mystery, the romance was light (and not the only thing going on), and the description of Scotland was appealing.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those "like it, don't like it, like it, what are they thinking?" type of books. It reminds me of an old Cary Grant movie where they fall into each others arms and he says something`something "my darling". Oh, swoon! I thought it was a pretty good book though.

[Helen]

I think this is very good gothic suspense. There are parts which are very creepy and suspenseful but then also moments down to earth reality. I found it a good mixture.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book many years ago. Still think of often. Read again to see if it was actually as good as I remembered. It was a fun read.