I really enjoyed this well-written vintage gothic mystery. Kathleen Norris was a very prolific writer, authoring 93 novels and many other pieces of work. The quality shows---I'll be hunting down more from her asap!

Set in the days when California was all cowboys and ranches and quiet orchards, this is one of those "houseful of people waiting for someone to die" sort of stories---but no sleaze, no contrived impossibilities---just normal classic behaviors one would expect in this sort of a story. It's one of the perfect gothics, in my opinion, and the big secret was a total shocker. Yep, rarely do I get very far into a book without having the whole thing figured out. This one got me---well written for sure!

Yay Kathleen Norris. We miss your kind. ( )