The Plot: During a 1920's house party at the ancestral estate of Sir Walter Lennox, the sordid reputation of the unused Grey Room is a topic of discussion. An ancestor of Sir Walter's died in the room under mysterious circumstances -- although she was in her 80's so how mysterious is that? Years later a robust young woman meets a similar fate, being found in the morning looking peacefully from bed with dead eyes. To debunk the myth one of the house party connives to sleep in the room, and a repetition of the previous death occurs. Sir Walter's nephew talks him into hiring a detective to uncover the truth. But before the truth comes to light a number of other deaths occur.
A Review: I enjoy mysteries with a supernatural twist, so I did enjoy reading this obscure book. The ending was a bit of a let-down, but not unexpectedly. The writing style is pleasant, although there is way too much of dinner conversations that drone on for pages, mostly filled with speculations about the "here-after" and lots of religious clap-trap, since one of the characters is a parson. It's easy to skip over these parts and just read the meat of the story without missing anything.
A note: While I appreciate being able to find this book as reprinted by Kessinger Publishing (other editions I found online from antiquarian booksellers were way too expensive), I am disappointed in the bare-bones presentation. There is no modern introduction to the novel, and not even an original date of publication. In addition, the typesetting is pretty sloppy. There were numerous typos -- many of them where a small u was replaced with a small n, and vice-versa.
A Review: I enjoy mysteries with a supernatural twist, so I did enjoy reading this obscure book. The ending was a bit of a let-down, but not unexpectedly. The writing style is pleasant, although there is way too much of dinner conversations that drone on for pages, mostly filled with speculations about the "here-after" and lots of religious clap-trap, since one of the characters is a parson. It's easy to skip over these parts and just read the meat of the story without missing anything.
A note: While I appreciate being able to find this book as reprinted by Kessinger Publishing (other editions I found online from antiquarian booksellers were way too expensive), I am disappointed in the bare-bones presentation. There is no modern introduction to the novel, and not even an original date of publication. In addition, the typesetting is pretty sloppy. There were numerous typos -- many of them where a small u was replaced with a small n, and vice-versa.
