Really bland story about the search for a missing woman. The ending runs on and on and on….Getting there is not half the fun. Don’t judge the usually reliable Meynell by this dull outing.
Gloria Grayson is a successful romance writer. Her confidential secretary of ten years, Mary Sellars, is missing. Gloria’s agent is friends with barrister Charles Manby and asks him to try and find her.
Three years ago at a party at Gloria’s house Manby met Mary for a brief moment. That night she fainted while on the phone. Charles heard a man’s voice yelling but couldn’t understand what was being said.
In his search he becomes friendly with Gloria and real friendly with a redhead named Amanda. Gloria says Mary went to a cottage where the two would take a break and do a lot of swimming. Mary wasn’t very good in the water.
Charles runs across man named Julian Randle. One afternoon he’s outside Randle’s door and hears him yelling at his wife. It sounds just like the voice on the phone from three years ago. Further investigation finds that Randle uses different names.
Before it’s all over Charles has a near fatal confrontation with Randle. The ending just drops in. No clever solution to where Mary got to and why. It’s almost like Meynell figured he had to draw it to a close somehow so why not just do it and start writing his next book.
Vintage45's Blog 