After her twins finish school and move to the US, Marian accepts a job accompanying a young woman on a tour of Greece. From the beginning, the tour encounters mishaps -- and then some serious accidents. Marian suspects something sinister is going on.

This does not quite have the vivid sense of place I expect from a holiday thriller/romantic suspense/murder mystery (like Mary Stewart’s My Brother Michael, which Marian reads in her hotel room, or M.M. Kaye’s Death in Berlin or Ngaio Marsh’s When in Rome.) But as a mystery, this was surprisingly satisfying. There’s a steadily growing sense of foreboding and danger, and twists and revelations I hadn’t guessed.

I liked that the tour gives Marian the space to reflect on, and make peace with, her brief marriage. I also liked the friendship she develops with Stella. It would have been very easy for it to become a mother-daughter dynamic -- Stella isn’t much older than Marian’s children, who have gone to live with their father, and Stella has a troubled relationship with her adoptive parents -- so it’s interesting to get a friendship instead.

There were a couple of jarring moments -- one for being dated, another for seeming too modern, but I guess that’s the 1970s for you.

I'm interested in seeing what else Jane Aiken Hodge has written.

“Except they seem to have been much more practical about it,” said Stella, as she and Marian set off side by side through the grove. “I mean, you just go to Lourdes and pray for a miracle, don’t you? While here you really got some treatment.”
“Exactly.” Cairnthorpe, who was just ahead of them, turned eagerly to agree with her. “It was a kind of psychoanalysis, when you come to think of it. If you were ill enough, the priests actually let you sleep in the sacred site, and then, in the morning, discussed your dreams with you.”
“Oh, God,” said Stella. “Freud. I bet the journey did them as much good as anything. And getting away from home.”
“Very likely. There must always have been part of the point of pilgrimages, mustn’t it?”
“A change is as good as a rest,” put in Marian. ( )

Originally published in 1973 and now available again in both print and ebook, this romantic suspense novel holds up well in the 21st century.

Marian Frenche, reeling from the recent departure of her grown children and in need of money, accepts an unexpected job offer to chaperone a young woman on a bus tour of Greece. Stella is mercurial, coming off of a bad love affair, and is supposed to be kept away from the other members of the party as much as possible. The tour starts out well, but then accidents begin to happen. Or is something more sinister going on? The suspense develops slowly, but when it is finally revealed what is actually going on, the tension ratchets up quickly. The romance is low-key throughout, but still satisfying.

Recommended for readers who enjoy old-fashioned romantic suspense. ( )

Marian goes to Greece as companion to Stella. Their party is beset with problems and a sense of danger. Exciting and fast-moving, with Marion unsure about who she can trust until the satisfying conclusion. Tense in places but not chilling. ( )