Lost Man's Lane

Amelia Butterworth returns with the confident promise that she will tell the true story of the strange events that made Lost Man's Lane notorious. Witty, self-aware, and fiercely moral, she is reluctant to play detective again after her earlier triumph, yet Mr. Gryce draws her into a new case that depends on secrecy, discretion, and her sharp judgment. What begins as a lively clash of pride and wit soon opens into a layered Victorian mystery, one rooted not in a simple crime but in vanished men, hidden grief, and household secrets that seem to multiply with every clue. The investigation leads Amelia to the Berkshire Hills village of X., where the children of her late friend Althea live and where duty, curiosity, and danger collide. A telegram announces another disappearance, Silly Rufus, while Lost Man's Lane itself becomes a place of dread, shadowed by suspicious residents, isolated houses, and ominous signs like black crape at a window. As Amelia probes further, she encounters courteous but unsettling figures, including Mr. Trohm, the mysterious Mother Jane, and the wary William Knollys, each adding to the atmosphere of surveillance, suspicion, and buried family trouble. Beneath the mystery runs a quieter drama of emotional strain, restraint, and the cost of maintaining appearances. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.