Detective Fiction Blog

Gregory Spring-Benson was an idle young man with no fixed desire to do anything — except possibly to drink Burgundy, for which he had a nice taste. The harsh reality of life, the necessity to do something in order to survive, he contrived to avoid by being incredibly self-centred and impervious to the criticism of his friends and the abuse of his creditors.

The time had come, however, when it was really necessary for him to see what could be done in the way of regular employment, preferably of a kind that would leave him plenty of spare time - and cash. For some reason he imagined that journalism would suit his purpose, but the newspaper he applied to for a job was not of that opinion.

UK First Edition artwork by CW Bacon

Now it happened that at this time Gregory read in this very newspaper that his Uncle James, a wealthy and eccentric old man, had acquired an ancient country mansion, complete with ghost. He did not like his uncle - few did - but he sensed that here might be good ‘copy5 of a kind to impress a newspaper, for that appeared to be necessary in order to get a job.

So down to Uncle James’s place he went, there to encounter several other hopeful and hateful relatives, all bent on seeing that they were not forgotten in the will, and that Uncle James’s interest in ghosts should not be exploited to their detriment. It is of these events, ghostly and otherwise, that this book tells.
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