I clearly liked Celia Fremlin’s Uncle Paul, but her books get better and better. I bought this book to schedule it around Christmas, because it is a seasonal novel; however, somehow that didn’t happen. It’s marketed as a mystery, but it’s more of thriller that builds slowly but doesn’t seem slow when you read it.
Imogen has been a widow for two months after her scholar husband was killed unexpectedly in an automobile accident. Although the charismatic Ivor was revered by many, she knew him for an attention-seeking egotist who treated his family badly. She feels that she would be all right if she could just be left alone, but instead people are giving her the attention they think she needs in her bereavement.
When finally the last person has left, Imogen isn’t alone for more than a few minutes when her stepson Robin arrives planning to stay for a while. Imogen is fond of him, but he is also selfish and hasn’t been able to hold down a job.
Imogen has just had a disturbing experience. Her friend Myrtle talked her into attending a party where she met a student named Teri. Teri accused her of murdering Ivor and said he has proof, even though Imogen was at home when the accident happened 200 miles away. Imogen knows the accusation is nonsense, but she is unnerved.
Could things get worse? They could! Imogen’s stepdaughter Dot arrives with her husband and two boys for the holidays, uninvited, as is Ivor’s second wife Cynthia, who arrives from Bermuda. Imogen hasn’t even met Cynthia, who is clearly hoping for some kind of financial settlement from Ivor’s estate. Finally, Robin brings home a surly girl, a student named Piggy.
Once all these people are assembled in the house, strange things begin happening. First, on Christmas Day one of the boys claims to have seen grandfather dressed as Father Christmas in Ivor’s study. Then one of the boys dreams of a face hovering over his. Papers are disturbed, messages appear from the grave, and Teri is hanging around trying to blackmail Imogen. Imogen never seriously considers a haunting, but something is clearly going on.
I could have wished for Imogen to be a little less polite and passive, but if she hadn’t been, we wouldn’t have such a good story. She is too empathetic, feeling sorry for people who are taking advantage of her.
There’s no way for the reader to figure out what’s going on, but getting to the solution is lots of fun. The writing is witty, especially the observations Imogen makes to herself about other characters’ behavior.
What? Me Read? 