The October 2021 #TBRChallenge theme is “Gothic.” I have no shortage of gothic novels on Mount TBR, but due to having multiple reading challenges going on at once, I was compelled to pick a short one, so I reached for this book, a lean 160 pages, originally published in 1940.

This was an odd book. The scene on the back of my copy never happened; the summary from other editions spoils the entire story. Richard Curwen falls madly in love with Antonia Dimrod the first time he lays eyes on her. They are kindred spirits: both are sociopathic hustlers, living on their wits and good looks. Both are desperately poor, moving from odd job to odd job in the hopes of earning enough bread to make it to the next diversion. Antonia is desperately beautiful, and in no time flat lands herself a much older, much richer husband. Richard is distraught, until Antonia suggests that he marry her shy and retiring cousin, Eloise Everard. Not only is she filthy rich, but she could practically be Antonia’s twin, at least in the looks department.

Richard is willing to do anything to keep his affair with Antonia burning brightly, so he works his charms on Eloise, and the two are soon married. Richard and Antonia resume their affair after the honeymoon trip, each getting high off the idea of forbidden romance and cuckolding their spouses. These two are a pair of prizes and more or less deserve each other. Eloise, on the other hand, returns from the honeymoon pregnant, and is soon swept under the wing of her overprotective Nanny, Emma Plume. That’s fine with Richard – he has more time to skip around to the deserted settlement in the middle of nowhere to meet his mistress.

Then things go pear-shaped. Antonia’s husband dies, but doesn’t leave her any money, so she’s back on the hustle. Richard is desperate to marry her, to the point of giving up Eloise and her piggy bank, but Antonia refuses, saying that they’ll be miserable inside a week if they are together but have no money. Antonia doesn’t refuse to give up their affair, though – she moves in with them, under the guise of being a widow in mourning, and the two of them are so hot and heavy that they manage to get caught.

Eloise has her child, Diana, whom she fusses over – as does Nanny Plume. Nanny Plume hates Richard Curwen on sight and is delighted when his affair with Antonia is brought out in the sunlight. Eloise doesn’t grant Richard the divorce he so desperately desires, however, knowing that staying married to him – and keeping him out of Antonia’s reach – will make him just as miserable as she is. She also starts losing her marbles a little bit, which makes Richard disdain her and Nanny Plume even more overprotective than usual.

Finally, after years of thwarted desire, Richard hatches a plan to rid himself of his hated wife. He sends Nanny and Diana off on vacation, convinces Eloise to move for her health, and buys an isolated plot of land called Moat House. He plays on Eloise’s worst fears, causes her to have a heart attack, and invites Antonia to take her place. They bury Eloise as Antonia, fire Nanny Plume, hire a new governess to bring Diana back from vacation, and settle into their new life together.

Antonia can’t play Eloise for very long; playing the little invalid is hard for this vivacious sociopath. So she and Richard make plans to ship Diana off to boarding school and travel around the world on Eloise’s money. The only problem is that Diana refuses to accept her ‘mummy’ and acts out – enough to make the governess concerned. Richard doesn’t know it, but Nanny Plume and the governess met when Diana exchanged hands, and they had a good long talk. Mrs. Curwen being nothing like what Nanny Plume warned her she’d be like was enough to compel the governess to write Nanny Plume at Christmastime.

Nanny Plume puts two and two together, realizes that Antonia is living as Mrs. Curwen in Eloise’s place, and vows revenge on the whole lot of them.

The story is told, in turn, by Emma Plume, Richard Curwen, and Antonia Meekin, so unreliable narration abounds. Still, it’s easy to develop serious distaste for both Richard and Antonia, who think nothing of killing a woman in their quest to be rich and together. Eloise was definitely cracked, but she deserved better than she received from her husband or her cousin. Richard constructed “the perfect murder” and considers his being caught solely down to Nanny Plume’s intense hatred of him. He could care less about his daughter, he’s just mad he was torn away from his illicit love affair. Ugh.

My copy of this novel calls the author The Grand Mistress of Gothic Romance and Suspense. There was definitely some suspense, and an overall gothic undertone, but this was a swing and a miss for me. The story was told in passive voice after the fact, so there wasn’t even on-page action to keep it moving. Meh. I’m glad my other Halloween-themed reads have been better than this. ( )

Entertaining -- if slightly implausible -- mystery with a (then) contemporary setting. Unusually, the mystery is seen from three different points of view. The Man in Question, The Other Woman, and the Disgruntled Ex-Employee (a nanny, in this case). The Man in Question is unhappily married, loves The Other Woman, and wants to fix things so that he can have the money (which would not go to him upon The Wife's death) and The Other Woman. How he does it is a bit implausible, as I say, but entertaining. There is a twist at the end that makes things a lot worse for The Man in Question. ( )

Richard Curwen met and fell madly in love with Antonia, and she with him. However, they both were penniless and too selfish to live like ordinary mortals. So, Richard married Antonia's frail, wealthy cousin Eloise who looked so much like Antonia that people couldn't tell them apart. Which was what Richard counted on. I liked this book by one of my favorite authors, however it's not my absolute favorite book by Norah Lofts. I give it an A! ( )