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The Chink in the Armor
The beautiful light-haired, blue-eyed Sylvia Bailey -- married at 19, and already a widow at 25 -- is enjoying life on her own in Paris. She even carries with her a symbol of the freedom she feels: a string of pearls -- a superb necklace she wears nearly everywhere she goes . . .
Yet those pearls will take her to the brink of disaster -- and propel her new, dear friend well beyond!
Lowndes (1868-1947), sister to Hilaire Belloc, wrote both historical novels and murder mysteries, with The Chink in the Armor ranking among her finest.
Yet those pearls will take her to the brink of disaster -- and propel her new, dear friend well beyond!
Lowndes (1868-1947), sister to Hilaire Belloc, wrote both historical novels and murder mysteries, with The Chink in the Armor ranking among her finest.
- GenresClassics
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1912
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108 people want to read
About the author
Marie Belloc Lowndes
227 books69 followersMarie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes, née Belloc (5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), was a prolific English novelist.
Active from 1898 until her death, she had a literary reputation for combining exciting incident with psychological interest. Two of her works were adapted for the screen.
Born in Marylebone, London and raised in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, Mrs Belloc Lowndes was the only daughter of French barrister Louis Belloc and English feminist Bessie Parkes. Her younger brother was Hilaire Belloc, whom she wrote of in her last work, The Young Hilaire Belloc (published posthumously in 1956). Her paternal grandfather was the French painter Jean-Hilaire Belloc, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Joseph Priestley. In 1896, she married Frederick Sawrey A. Lowndes (1868–1940). Her mother died in 1925, 53 years after her father.
She published a biography, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales: An Account of His Career, in 1898. From then on, she published novels, reminiscences, and plays at the rate of one per year until 1946. In the memoir, I, too, Have Lived in Arcadia (1942), she told the story of her mother's life, compiled largely from old family letters and her own memories of her early life in France. A second autobiography Where love and friendship dwelt, appeared posthumously in 1948.
She died 14 November 1947 at the home of her elder daughter, Countess Iddesleigh (wife of the third Earl) in Eversley Cross, Hampshire, and was interred in France, in La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Versailles, where she spent her youth.
(from Wikipedia)
Active from 1898 until her death, she had a literary reputation for combining exciting incident with psychological interest. Two of her works were adapted for the screen.
Born in Marylebone, London and raised in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, Mrs Belloc Lowndes was the only daughter of French barrister Louis Belloc and English feminist Bessie Parkes. Her younger brother was Hilaire Belloc, whom she wrote of in her last work, The Young Hilaire Belloc (published posthumously in 1956). Her paternal grandfather was the French painter Jean-Hilaire Belloc, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Joseph Priestley. In 1896, she married Frederick Sawrey A. Lowndes (1868–1940). Her mother died in 1925, 53 years after her father.
She published a biography, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales: An Account of His Career, in 1898. From then on, she published novels, reminiscences, and plays at the rate of one per year until 1946. In the memoir, I, too, Have Lived in Arcadia (1942), she told the story of her mother's life, compiled largely from old family letters and her own memories of her early life in France. A second autobiography Where love and friendship dwelt, appeared posthumously in 1948.
She died 14 November 1947 at the home of her elder daughter, Countess Iddesleigh (wife of the third Earl) in Eversley Cross, Hampshire, and was interred in France, in La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Versailles, where she spent her youth.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 18, 2022
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Our naive young heroine, Sylvia Bailey, was married at nineteen to a man many years her elder. Now, still only in her twenty-fifth year, she is a widow – beautiful and wealthy, and keen to experience something of the world. So off she goes to Paris where she makes friends with another guest in the hotel – Anna Wolsky, slightly older than her and with a gambling habit that could easily be called an addiction. Anna introduces Sylvia to Lacville, a little town not far from Paris, the main attraction of which is its casino which draws all sorts of people, desirable and undesirable, to its gaming rooms. One of the desirables is the swoonworthy Count Paul de Virieu, who is staying at the same guesthouse as Sylvia. He has looks, a title, an aristocratic family, a sexy French accent – everything a girl could desire, in fact. Unfortunately he is also a gambling addict, having already lost the fortune he had inherited. Sylvia, of course, feels that she can change him. Meantime, various people warn Sylvia not to openly wear the ostentatious pearls she bought herself as a kind of symbol of her new-found freedom, since some of the undesirables around town may be tempted by them into nefarious deeds. Our Sylvia ignores all warnings, of course. And then Anna, having had a big win one evening, disappears…
This is quite fun, although it’s far too long for its content (proving it’s not only contemporary crime fiction that suffers from this problem). It’s pretty obvious from early on which characters are goodies and which are baddies, although it’s not obvious to our Sylvia who almost inevitably trusts the untrustworthy and dismisses the good people who are trying to warn her she’s putting herself in the way of danger. Still, it wouldn’t be much of a book if she’d listened to them, left Lacville and put her pearls in the bank, I suppose. Instead, she sets out to find out what happened to Anna, to cure Count Paul from his gambling fever, and to have a little fun along the way. But dark deeds are looming and Sylvia is soon in peril.
Sylvia is so naive and trusting it’s almost painful to watch her, especially since the idea of her taking off to Paris on her own is delightfully liberated for the period – the book was published in 1912. She’s certainly strong-willed, but seems to lack any kind of judgement regarding other people or her own safety. Back home in England, William Chester, the young trustee of the legacy left her by her husband, is waiting patiently for her to sow her wild oats, so to speak, and then come back and settle down into the respectable role of being his wife. Eventually he follows her to France, and is frankly horrified to find her in a gambling town, flirting with a penniless, if sexy, Frenchman. Is Paul after her money, or is he truly in love? Will Sylvia abandon her home country to live a precarious (if exciting) existence with her gambling Count, or will she return to England and a life of safe (if dull) domesticity with sensible Charles? Will Anna ever re-appear? Will Sylvia’s pearls lead to tragedy? Or will it all end happily ever after?
Not a patch on her wonderful The Lodger, but enjoyable enough. I do wish someone had insisted on editing out about a third of it though – it would have been a better book as a result. It has a kind of dramatic denouement filled with danger when all is revealed, but it’s so slow getting there and is all too well signalled for there to be much tension. However young Sylvia is an entertainingly wilful heroine, even if I did spend most of the time wanting to knock some sense into her. And it’s probably an age thing, but I really found sensible Charles much more attractive than sexy Paul… hey ho! 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Our naive young heroine, Sylvia Bailey, was married at nineteen to a man many years her elder. Now, still only in her twenty-fifth year, she is a widow – beautiful and wealthy, and keen to experience something of the world. So off she goes to Paris where she makes friends with another guest in the hotel – Anna Wolsky, slightly older than her and with a gambling habit that could easily be called an addiction. Anna introduces Sylvia to Lacville, a little town not far from Paris, the main attraction of which is its casino which draws all sorts of people, desirable and undesirable, to its gaming rooms. One of the desirables is the swoonworthy Count Paul de Virieu, who is staying at the same guesthouse as Sylvia. He has looks, a title, an aristocratic family, a sexy French accent – everything a girl could desire, in fact. Unfortunately he is also a gambling addict, having already lost the fortune he had inherited. Sylvia, of course, feels that she can change him. Meantime, various people warn Sylvia not to openly wear the ostentatious pearls she bought herself as a kind of symbol of her new-found freedom, since some of the undesirables around town may be tempted by them into nefarious deeds. Our Sylvia ignores all warnings, of course. And then Anna, having had a big win one evening, disappears…
This is quite fun, although it’s far too long for its content (proving it’s not only contemporary crime fiction that suffers from this problem). It’s pretty obvious from early on which characters are goodies and which are baddies, although it’s not obvious to our Sylvia who almost inevitably trusts the untrustworthy and dismisses the good people who are trying to warn her she’s putting herself in the way of danger. Still, it wouldn’t be much of a book if she’d listened to them, left Lacville and put her pearls in the bank, I suppose. Instead, she sets out to find out what happened to Anna, to cure Count Paul from his gambling fever, and to have a little fun along the way. But dark deeds are looming and Sylvia is soon in peril.
Sylvia is so naive and trusting it’s almost painful to watch her, especially since the idea of her taking off to Paris on her own is delightfully liberated for the period – the book was published in 1912. She’s certainly strong-willed, but seems to lack any kind of judgement regarding other people or her own safety. Back home in England, William Chester, the young trustee of the legacy left her by her husband, is waiting patiently for her to sow her wild oats, so to speak, and then come back and settle down into the respectable role of being his wife. Eventually he follows her to France, and is frankly horrified to find her in a gambling town, flirting with a penniless, if sexy, Frenchman. Is Paul after her money, or is he truly in love? Will Sylvia abandon her home country to live a precarious (if exciting) existence with her gambling Count, or will she return to England and a life of safe (if dull) domesticity with sensible Charles? Will Anna ever re-appear? Will Sylvia’s pearls lead to tragedy? Or will it all end happily ever after?
Not a patch on her wonderful The Lodger, but enjoyable enough. I do wish someone had insisted on editing out about a third of it though – it would have been a better book as a result. It has a kind of dramatic denouement filled with danger when all is revealed, but it’s so slow getting there and is all too well signalled for there to be much tension. However young Sylvia is an entertainingly wilful heroine, even if I did spend most of the time wanting to knock some sense into her. And it’s probably an age thing, but I really found sensible Charles much more attractive than sexy Paul… hey ho! 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 5, 2014
I have a fascination with Marie Belloc Lowndes. So, when I was looking for a nice, somewhat creepy read after finishing the fourth book of the Chloe Boston series, I turned to my old friend Marie.
The Chink in the Armour promised to be a creepy one; I mean really, it started off with a visit to a fortune teller. That visit didn’t reveal a pleasant fortune either. It was an eerie fortune, steeped in suspicion of the soothsayer. It was a nice start.
Now, I won’t reveal whether or not the suspicious oracle was honest or a hoax. That would ruin the story for you. I hate spoilers. I don’t want to be the personification of one.
I did find that the story was less creepy than I expected. It was not the full beginning to end inducer of willies that The Lodger was. But it did start off making my hair stand on end a bit, so that was nice.
The book then turned into many things. It was part voyage of self-discovery. It was part liberation of the female lead character. It was part buddy joint. It was part mystery. It was part thriller. It was all well-written and well-done. So, while it wasn’t the creep-fest that I was expecting, it was a book well worth reading.
It, again, leaves me wondering why it is that I had never heard of Lowndes until I got my Kindle. It makes me wonder why she isn’t taught in the school system. And she’s not considered worthy of that, why she hasn’t at least developed the popular following that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has received.
Please, do me - and yourself - the favor of reading Marie Belloc Lowndes. I would recommend starting with either "The Chink in the Armour" or "The Lodger" (review to follow someday soon). And please let me know what you think about the author. I would love to hear your opinions.
As always, I can be reached on Goodreads, or at unkemptruminations@comcast.net
The Chink in the Armour promised to be a creepy one; I mean really, it started off with a visit to a fortune teller. That visit didn’t reveal a pleasant fortune either. It was an eerie fortune, steeped in suspicion of the soothsayer. It was a nice start.
Now, I won’t reveal whether or not the suspicious oracle was honest or a hoax. That would ruin the story for you. I hate spoilers. I don’t want to be the personification of one.
I did find that the story was less creepy than I expected. It was not the full beginning to end inducer of willies that The Lodger was. But it did start off making my hair stand on end a bit, so that was nice.
The book then turned into many things. It was part voyage of self-discovery. It was part liberation of the female lead character. It was part buddy joint. It was part mystery. It was part thriller. It was all well-written and well-done. So, while it wasn’t the creep-fest that I was expecting, it was a book well worth reading.
It, again, leaves me wondering why it is that I had never heard of Lowndes until I got my Kindle. It makes me wonder why she isn’t taught in the school system. And she’s not considered worthy of that, why she hasn’t at least developed the popular following that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has received.
Please, do me - and yourself - the favor of reading Marie Belloc Lowndes. I would recommend starting with either "The Chink in the Armour" or "The Lodger" (review to follow someday soon). And please let me know what you think about the author. I would love to hear your opinions.
As always, I can be reached on Goodreads, or at unkemptruminations@comcast.net
August 12, 2014
10 AUG 2014 - because I enjoyed The Lodger tremendously.
Download here from Manybooks.net:
http://manybooks.net/titles/lowndesm1...
Or here from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16677
"But there is one chink in the chain armour of civilized communities. Society is conducted on the assumption that murder will not be committed."
The Spectator
CHAPTER 1 - A small, shiny, pink card lay on the round table in Sylvia Bailey's sitting room at the Hotel de l'Horloge in Paris.
***
A fortune-teller's card? What an extraordinary thing!
This sounds serious and I hope Sylvia Bailey is ready for an unbelievable adventure because if I had ever found a small, shiny, pink fortune-teller's card in any of the hotel rooms in which I have stayed, I would have shot out the door and ran all the way to the fortune-teller's establishment just for the fun of it!
Chap. 11 -- And yet the thought of going away from Lacville was already intolerable to Sylvia. There had arisen between the Frenchman and herself a close, wordless understanding and sympathy which she, at any rate, still called "friendship." But she would have assented to Meredith's words, "Friendship, I fancy, means one heart between two."
12 AUG 2014 -- Another winner! Like Fergus Hume, Marie Belloc Lowndes is becoming a favorite author of mine. The Chink in the Armour is different from The Lodger.
Where The Lodger is a great psychological thriller, The Chink in the Armour is more suspenseful in a mild mad-cap adventure way. Sylvia and Madame Wolsky should have the heeded the warnings of the fortune-teller as the results are devastating for one.
I am on a roll with good books which I have enjoyed greatly - this is yet another one!
Download here from Manybooks.net:
http://manybooks.net/titles/lowndesm1...
Or here from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16677
"But there is one chink in the chain armour of civilized communities. Society is conducted on the assumption that murder will not be committed."
The Spectator
CHAPTER 1 - A small, shiny, pink card lay on the round table in Sylvia Bailey's sitting room at the Hotel de l'Horloge in Paris.
***
A fortune-teller's card? What an extraordinary thing!
This sounds serious and I hope Sylvia Bailey is ready for an unbelievable adventure because if I had ever found a small, shiny, pink fortune-teller's card in any of the hotel rooms in which I have stayed, I would have shot out the door and ran all the way to the fortune-teller's establishment just for the fun of it!
Chap. 11 -- And yet the thought of going away from Lacville was already intolerable to Sylvia. There had arisen between the Frenchman and herself a close, wordless understanding and sympathy which she, at any rate, still called "friendship." But she would have assented to Meredith's words, "Friendship, I fancy, means one heart between two."
12 AUG 2014 -- Another winner! Like Fergus Hume, Marie Belloc Lowndes is becoming a favorite author of mine. The Chink in the Armour is different from The Lodger.
Where The Lodger is a great psychological thriller, The Chink in the Armour is more suspenseful in a mild mad-cap adventure way. Sylvia and Madame Wolsky should have the heeded the warnings of the fortune-teller as the results are devastating for one.
I am on a roll with good books which I have enjoyed greatly - this is yet another one!
Want to read
March 10, 2019Synopsis: the beautiful Sylvia, married at 19 and widowed at 25, is enjoying life in Paris. She wears pearls which bring her close to disaster.
January 31, 2016
The author is very talented. In fact, she is a new favorite. I heard of her in Hemingway's Movable Feast, and have since read several of her books. So far, this has been my least favorite. The story is original and likely quite unique for her time, but it drags on in parts considerably. It could be half the length it is. I was intrigued by the plot, so I kept on but I would tell anyone thinking of reading this book to choose one of the author's many other, shorter titles.
November 1, 2013
This book is the equivalent of yelling at the TV character not to go into the basement. I came pretty close to yelling at the book. The lead is so naive and passive I could not connect with her at all. Well written yet disappointing, I had higher expectations.
November 16, 2012
The main character's naive obliviousness drove me to cease reading and instead scan the last half of the book.
July 21, 2025
(1912) This was published a year before the author’s novel The Lodger, that masterpiece of atmosphere and character. Despite the early date, it is indistinguishable from one of Mary Stewart’s romantic suspenses from the ‘50s, with its English waif imperiled in a glamorous, continental locale—except for how remarkably boring it all is. There are some novels so gruelingly dull that you get excited when almost anything happens in them. And that tricks you into thinking they're good. Lowndes barely accomplishes even that. I was honestly almost impressed when, halfway through—nay, 3/4 of the way in—the narrator was still babbling on in the same unconcerned manner, making a big deal out of the most childish trifles. Perhaps Lowndes thought the opening scene with the fortune-teller (which was great) was enough to keep the suspense up through chapter after uneventful chapter. Or perhaps she thought the mediocre romance could carry the reader through.
I’m trying to figure out why she was so wrong. Again the author foreshadows, via the tarot reader, the danger. It’s hazy but comes into focus when the Polish friend disappears. Somehow even knowing a murder had occurred does little to increase the book’s interest. Lowndes telegraphs very loudly the suspects. She even introduces a supernatural element and suggests that the ghost of the missing friend is trying to warn the protagonists. I actually found this part a little spooky and effective. Meanwhile, though, the oblivious heroine is going about her slow routine. It should be suspenseful, like when you yell at a character in a horror movie not to enter a room. But when finally, at long last—with only 25 pages left—the trap is set around her, I was less anxious than cranky and impatient. I don’t know… Maybe the problem is just that the book should have been a novella or even a short story.
I thought The Lodger was perfect except for the repetitive first 20 pages. This one is like those 20 pages stretched out to 220. I chose it because Hemingway alluded to it favorably during his Paris years—along with The Lodger—as a bit of first-rate light reading. It must’ve been just after he hit his head.
____
Note: Baccarat, the game the characters are all taking so seriously and feeling so superior about, is a laughably simple one relying on chance and no skill at all.
I’m trying to figure out why she was so wrong. Again the author foreshadows, via the tarot reader, the danger. It’s hazy but comes into focus when the Polish friend disappears. Somehow even knowing a murder had occurred does little to increase the book’s interest. Lowndes telegraphs very loudly the suspects. She even introduces a supernatural element and suggests that the ghost of the missing friend is trying to warn the protagonists. I actually found this part a little spooky and effective. Meanwhile, though, the oblivious heroine is going about her slow routine. It should be suspenseful, like when you yell at a character in a horror movie not to enter a room. But when finally, at long last—with only 25 pages left—the trap is set around her, I was less anxious than cranky and impatient. I don’t know… Maybe the problem is just that the book should have been a novella or even a short story.
I thought The Lodger was perfect except for the repetitive first 20 pages. This one is like those 20 pages stretched out to 220. I chose it because Hemingway alluded to it favorably during his Paris years—along with The Lodger—as a bit of first-rate light reading. It must’ve been just after he hit his head.
____
Note: Baccarat, the game the characters are all taking so seriously and feeling so superior about, is a laughably simple one relying on chance and no skill at all.
August 25, 2023
The Chink in the Armour opens on a fortune-teller speechless with horror after reading "Taro" cards and ends with what may be a ghost who manages to haunt various different locales. In between we have a handsome French count who is a gambling addict; a loyal English solicitor who is not; our hero ghosted by her best friend; a few hints of the supernatural; romance; more gambling addicts; and several wonderful French meals. The story takes place in Lacville (now slang for a Cadillac de Ville), a suburban lake town near Paris with a casino. Our protagonist, Sylvia, is a widow at 25, lovely and wealthy. Watching from her point of view we gradually (very, very gradually) see an evil plot tighten around her neck, which is comfortably warmed by a fortune in pearls, an open invitation to the criminally inclined. Sylvia is described as simple and innocent, but she's none too bright or at least naïve to an extreme degree as she's completely unaware of what the reader knows too well, oblivious to the implications of the disappearance of her good friend while the reader frets. The mystery is slow-developing though well-painted with evocative descriptions. The plot doesn't really begin until halfway through the book and the climax is heavy handed and telegraphed. Coincidence is the author's trusty tool: are you concerned that your admirer only loves you for your money? Don't worry he'll soon inherit a fortune. There's also the interesting comment that "The promises of Southerners are pie-crust." Southern France, southern Europe? It's unclear. This century-old book was written by the prolific Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947), who also wrote The Lodger (1913); Hillaire Belloc was her younger brother. The plot is too slow, the coincidences too many, and the resolution too obvious for our less simple times, but The Chink in the Armour is certainly enjoyable and a novel view into the past. Read for the journey and not the destination. My copy is as pictured, but is a hardback of 335 pages published by Charles Scribner's Sons in March, 1912, as by "Mrs. Belloc-Lowndes." [3½★]
July 18, 2019
If you are not in a hurry, if you do not require a savage thrill, you may appreciate this subtle brand of horror. The author creates an eerie feeling ,throughout the story, so delicately. We have the naive young widow drawn into a world of vice. Gambling itself is a villain, although not the only one. Set in a small " queer" suburb of Paris, " ..in this curious place, where she had eaten, in more than one sense, of the bitter fruit of the tree of knowledge". Although our young heroine doesn't actually get much more worldly, she does step up and out, for a woman of her time and position.
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December 15, 2019Please see blog for [K]'s review: https://thepturnersbookblog.wordpress...
January 13, 2014
I found this a very pleasant read for a variety of reasons.
Lowndes creates interesting characters and succeeds in creating some suspense even though there is no difficulty in guessing the mystery. The narrative is sometimes a bit repetitive, in that some observation or other is stated several times, but I still found the overall pacing quite pleasant.
The lively descriptions of Belle Epoque life and manners and of gambling addiction (not yet, apparently, recognised as the disease we today regard it and therefore treated with a fascinatingly innocent perspective) make this book quite satisfying. There are a moments of occult 'events' that make you fear they are going to have a major influence on the story, but luckily that's not the case. Yes, you realise what's going on less than a third into the book, but Lowndes managed to keep me guessing as to the final resolution (which was surprisingly restrained, actually) and unwilling to put my kindle down.
I stumbled across this free kindle download while googling Hilaire Belloc. Marie Belloc Lowndes was his sister, and a successful novelist of the early 20th century. This novel was first published in 1912.
Lowndes creates interesting characters and succeeds in creating some suspense even though there is no difficulty in guessing the mystery. The narrative is sometimes a bit repetitive, in that some observation or other is stated several times, but I still found the overall pacing quite pleasant.
The lively descriptions of Belle Epoque life and manners and of gambling addiction (not yet, apparently, recognised as the disease we today regard it and therefore treated with a fascinatingly innocent perspective) make this book quite satisfying. There are a moments of occult 'events' that make you fear they are going to have a major influence on the story, but luckily that's not the case. Yes, you realise what's going on less than a third into the book, but Lowndes managed to keep me guessing as to the final resolution (which was surprisingly restrained, actually) and unwilling to put my kindle down.
I stumbled across this free kindle download while googling Hilaire Belloc. Marie Belloc Lowndes was his sister, and a successful novelist of the early 20th century. This novel was first published in 1912.
December 2, 2019
The widowed Sylvia Bailey is currently visiting Paris with her friend Ms Wolsey who she met whilst in the country. When her friend convinces her to go and see a psychic she hears hers and her friends unsettling future.
Sylvia hears about a local village to Paris and upon visiting finds a big casino there. Her friend Mrs Wolsey has abit of a habit she decides to relocate from Paris for a while, so Sylvia decides to do the same and enjoy the change of scenery.
I found this an easy read. I had suspicions about certain characters and wished I could step into the story to keep them from straying off the path and into trouble. This story had a subtle build of uneasiness as the book progressed. It highlighted how easily people could be lead into gambling and the insecurities of these games of chance.
Sylvia hears about a local village to Paris and upon visiting finds a big casino there. Her friend Mrs Wolsey has abit of a habit she decides to relocate from Paris for a while, so Sylvia decides to do the same and enjoy the change of scenery.
I found this an easy read. I had suspicions about certain characters and wished I could step into the story to keep them from straying off the path and into trouble. This story had a subtle build of uneasiness as the book progressed. It highlighted how easily people could be lead into gambling and the insecurities of these games of chance.
July 12, 2016
Spooky and suspenseful. Wealthy widow Sylvia Bailey is idling around Europe when she befriends another widow who is also a gambling addict. The two decide to go to the gambling town of Lacville, despite a psychic's warning that they will find themselves in grave danger there--danger from which at least one of them will not escape. If only they'd heeded the warning... A real, old-fashioned "page-turner", for sure.
July 26, 2025
I'll file this one with The Chianti Flask, as a good example of an MB Lowndes book where nothing much happens. Full review (such as it is) at https://murderatthemanse.substack.com...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews