Talk aboutGrand Guignol!This novel is typical of so many GoldenAge mysteries in that it was written by a young author who was full ofzest. Markham was still in his twenties when he wrote it, and you cantell - because of the exuberance and the energy of the story-telling,aswell as in a degree of naivete in terms of over-writing. This is not somuch a locked room mystery as a story overloaded with apparentimpossibilities, as Markahm piles on the atmospherics so heavily that itmakes early John Dickson Carr look positively sedate by comparison.Victor Bannerlee is an antiquary travelling in Radnorshire, Wales.Markham was American, but like Carr, he was evidently fond of Britain,and he captures the land of legend very well. After a couple of bizarreencounters, he finds himself lost in the fog, and stumbles on an ancientmansion, which just happens to belong to an acquaintance. The houseparty gathered there, for a wedding, is a motley crew, and the sense ofimpending doom intensifies with the appearance of a bizarre apparitionrejoicing in the name Parson Lolly. The area is steeped in spookymythology, and a non-stop sequence variety of weird occurrences. There'sa splendid plot twist, and I admired the way that Markham disguised it.Over-the-top, yes; verbose, definitely; but great fun