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Post by ripper on Sept 15, 2014 11:58:14 GMT
The Ghost of Towneley Towers by Seabury Quinn (Real Detective, Dec 1927)
Part of a series of stories featuring the adventures of Professor Forrester and his young female ward, Rosalie. In this one, there are mysterious goings-on in an isolated house, cut off from the outside world by snow. Forrester and Rosalie must find out who is killing off people at the house and why. Despite the title, not much is made of the supernatural aspects and it is basically a murder-mystery, rather similar to the many "old dark house" films that were so popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The two lead characters, Forrester and Rosalie, make for an engaging pair. There is absolutely no hint of romance between them. Rosalie, though a blonde, has an asian background, and her speech is dotted with asian expressions and she often refers to Forrester as "lord" or "master." She is not above using the threat of torture to extract information, heating up a knife until it is red-hot before interrogating a prisoner--not described in the text. This story was written in 1927 and it reflects racial attitudes of the time, so expect some language that would be unacceptable today. This is the first Forrester and Rosalie story that I have read, so do not know how it compares to others Quinn wrote. I did enjoy it quite a bit and shall certainly try to find more Forrester and Rosalie tales to see how they compare.
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