Dead Man Manor

The old Manor sits abandoned, derelict and empty - except, of course, for the dead body...

The peace of a warm July rests over the upscale Canadian resort like a benediction; air drenched with the resinous fragrance of balsam and spruce soothes the spirit, and in the burnished enclave of the Manor's drawing room, prone, knee drawn up and limp hands flung wide, lies a blood-drenched corpse.

Mr. Treadgold, tailor, stamp collector and shrewd amateur detective has come to the fishing retreat for a rest. George Wood has come because he's an enthusiastic angler. The all-too-plausible lawyer Gideon Adams wouldn't have come at all if he'd known that he was to die swiftly and incredibly in Dead Man Manor. But dead he is - and the local authorities soon settle on the disturbed one-eyed wild man living in the woods to be the culprit. An easy option - but is it the right one?

With the local police committed, Treadgold must lead his fellow guests to the truth through a growing list of questions including: Who had a motive to kill the affable holiday-maker? Is the Manor actually as empty as it seems? What murky undercurrents roil below this tranquil paradise? And the most pressing of all ...

Is anyone safe?

The author of over twenty detective stories, thrillers and plays, journalist and writer (George) Valentine Williams (1883-1946) was best known for The Man with the Clubfoot (1918). Dead Man Manor (1936) is the first in the Horace B. Treadgold series.

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