Overview

Howard Taubman's comments: "Mr. Knott has set his latest beguilement for murder-mystery aficionados in Rodingham Manor, an ancient but rather run-down stately house of England…there are two Rodingham brothers, sons of the lord of the manor who wastes no time in dying offstage of natural causes. There is a blunt old party in tweeds, the family doctor, a woman, peppery in a healthy English way. There is shrewd, ruthless, self-made Charles Sturrock who knows where the main commercial chances lie. And there is his appealing young wife, Julie. Julie would like to be a writer and has a way with character. David Rodingham is a writer whose forte is plot. Intent on wheeling and dealing in land values, Sturrock finds it useful to encourage David to help his wife write a tale about murder. The collaborators are attracted not only to letters but also to romantic ideas, and the seemingly unaware Sturrock at one point assists in dreaming up a perfect crime. Clive Rodingham, the older brother, is something of a playboy. As the heir he sells off the manor to Sturrock and takes off for an heiress in Texas. He returns fairly late in the proceedings, minus wife and funds. Here the plot thickens. Although Mr. Knott makes no secret of the murderer and the homicidal technique, the reviewer's code enjoins silence on the story development and denouement. It is enough to say that Mr. Knott keeps you with him."