Think decadent Southern families, big old house, stern family retainers, etc. Some detection, but suspense wound up as tight as possible is really what The Pavilion is about. Regan Carr, 20, has just lost her mother when her distant cousin Hurst asks her to come live at his house on the Chesapeake in Maryland. When she arrives, Hurst is dead. Initially Regan is merely grieving, but nothing in the house seems quite right. Regan finds herself reading Hurst’s diaries with his brother Fray, who tries to keep his own thoughts hidden until he has heard Regan’s.

Contrived and improbable, yes. Very much of its time, yes. But it certainly deserved the good reviews it got, if only because the full story of Hurst’s life and death is so skillfully masked and gradually revealed to create stunning atmosphere and suspense. ( )

Hilda Lawrence writes good old-fashioned mysteries and I love the dark, rainy atmosphere she creates. Death of a Doll is also good. ( )

Sentimental value only, not very good to read. ( )