The Grey Room
US publication: 1921
Author: Phillpotts, Eden
Detective:
Genre: Novel
Plot
summary and comments: Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER in AT THE ORIEL Chadlands sprang into existence when the manor houses of England—save for the persistence of occasional embattled parapets and other warlike survivals of unrestful days now past—had obeyed the laws of architectural evolution, and begun to approach a future of cleanliness and comfort, rising to luxury hitherto unknown. The development of this ancient mass was displayed in plan as much as in elevation, and, at its date, the great mansion had stood for the last word of perfection, when men thought ou large lines and the conditions of labour made possible achievements now seldom within the power of a private purse. Much had since been done, but the main architectural features were preserved, though the interior of the great house was transformed. The manor of Chadlands extended to some fifty thousand acres lying in a river valley between the heights of Haldon on the east and the frontiers of Dartmoor westerly. The little township was connected by a branch with the Great Western Bailway, and the station lay five miles from the manor house. No more perfect parklands, albeit on a modest scale, existed in South Devon, and the views of the surrounding heights and great vale opening from the estate caused pleasure aliketo those contented with obvious beauty and the small number of spectators who understood the significance of what constitutes really distinguished landscape. Eastward, long slopes of herbage and drifts of azaleas—a glorious harmony of gold, scarlet, and orange in June—sloped upwards to larch woods; while the gardens of pleasure, watered by a little trout stream, spread beneath the manor house, and behind it rose hot-houses and the glass and walled gardens of fruit and vegetables. To the south and west opened park and vale, where receded for...
::READERS REVIEWS::
The Grey Room - Eden Phillpotts greatly influenced the writings of Agatha Christie, so if you like her work, you should find Phillpotts' work interesting. The Grey Room takes place at a manor house on Dartmoor. The beginning paragraphs paint the scene beautifully, but, like most British mysteries, the plot and character development are the be-all and end-all of this novel. Slower and dryer than Christie, but an intriguing story. This edition does not identify the fact that The Grey Room was a serial publication and dates to 1920. It was in The Popular Magazine originally.
A Marginal Recommendation -
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.
::AMAZON REVIEWS::
The Grey RoomEden Phillpotts greatly influenced the writings of Agatha Christie, so if you like her work, you should find Phillpotts' work interesting. The Grey Room takes place at a manor house on Dartmoor. The beginning paragraphs paint the scene beautifully, but, like most British mysteries, the plot and character development are the be-all and end-all of this novel. Slower and dryer than Christie, but an intriguing story. This edition does not identify the fact that The Grey Room was a serial publication and dates to 1920. It was in The Popular Magazine originally.
A Marginal Recommendation
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.