Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32002 - The Ravens of Rockhurst

'Death lurked in the dark corners of the old house waiting for a girl who had nowhere to hide" (cover blurb)

 

Well, so far for this series, it's two for two!  After enjoying the first Harlequin Gothic Romance, I was hoping the second would be just as good, if not better, and I was not disappointed in the least.  I don't really know much about the author, Marian Martin, as there seems to be next to nothing about her online.  Besides this one book, she apparently published a book titled Dangerous Stranger in 2011.  There are also some European waterway guide books that are authored by a Marian Martin, but I have no way of confirming if it is the same author.  Thus, I'm unsure if "Marian Martin" is a pseudonym for a more prolific author, or if she is an actual person.  The copyright page for this book indicates it is copyrighted by Marian Martin, so that hints at her being an actual person rather than a pen name.  Regardless, the story was a great read, so it's a shame she did not write more!

The Ravens of Rockhurst is the tale of Courtney Hughes, a young art appraiser who finally has the opportunity to prove herself by taking on the job of appraising the estate of one Jacob Padgett, a man who collected just about anything and everything (hmmmm, she should come to my house!).  There is some uncertainty about Courtney handling the job, as her employer has never allowed her to take on such responsibility in the firm, but she convinces him to allow her to take the month-long job at the old house known as Rockhurst, high in the Cascade Mountains (p. 7).  According to Google maps, the Cascade Mountains are approximately four hours from Seattle, meaning poor Courtney had quite a drive.  Upon her arrival, Courtney meets the various members of the cast who become the focus of the readers' attention, as they try to figure out what is really going on in this isolated mansion.

There is Sarah Padgett, the widow who is set to inherit most of her deceased husband's collections, and who is anxious to see it all sold.  There is Jenny, the housekeeper who has been at Rockhurst for most of her life, and who knows all of the family's secrets.  There is also Floyd Taylor, the handyman at Rockhurst, who the family says is a little bit slow, but who knows more than he is telling.  Then there are Aaron Padgett and Daniel Padgett, the decedent's grandson and grand-nephew - two cousins who are set to only receive a small portion of the estate proceeds - unless, that is, Sarah dies first!  Oh, yes, there is also the "neighbor" (who lives through the woods a bit), Winston Coe (I wonder if he is any relation to Lucy Coe?), who seems to be a collector in his own right and who shares an interest in some of Jacob Padgett's possessions.  And all of these have one very big thing in common - they are all aware that Jacob Padgett, before he died, claimed to have discovered something in his collection was worth a fortune, and he took joy in keeping that treasure a secret!  Since his death, no one seems to have found it, but everyone is on the look out for it.  Now that Courtney is there, taking inventory of everything in the house, will the treasure turn up?  And if so, how far will someone go to get their hands on it?

The story somewhat reminds me of Janet Louise Roberts The Dornstein Icon, which also deals with a young woman training to be an art appraiser, who ends up at an isolated castle.  Both that book and this one involve some valuable icons (which I learned, after reading Roberts' book, is a religious work of art, usually a painting of the Holy Mother, Mary).  Both stories feature two men who appear to be vying for the main character's affection.  And both stories have a protagonist whose name begins with "C" - Courtney in this book, Caroline in Roberts' book.  But, thankfully, this story did not follow the path of Roberts' - in this book, Courtney is a strong, independent woman who is capable of taking care of herself, while poor Caroline was a submissive woman who desperately needed a man to save her.  Also, thankfully, the man in this story who was truly trying to help the main character all along does not drug her and force her to marry him, as what happened in Roberts' book!

This book does, however, have the feel of a grown-up Nancy Drew book.  The cover art, in fact, seems to pay a slight homage to the original Tandy and Nappi covers of The Secret in the Old Attic.  Like Nancy, Courtney is determined to help Sarah Padgett protect her inheritance, and like Nancy, she is not afraid to climb the stairs into an old turret room (similar to the attic).  And, like Nancy, she gets locked in the room up there and left to die!  Only through ingenuity does Courtney (like Nancy!) figure out a way to escape the locked room.  There are also clues that are stolen, red herrings, a message from the decedent that gives the much needed clue to the hidden treasure, and a last minute attempt by the villain to keep Courtney from foiling his plans!  But, like Nancy, she manages to escape his death trap and make her way back to Rockhurst to reveal all at last.

The cover art is a wonderfully painted scene taken directly from page 118 of the story, where Courtney is exploring the turret room and comes across the "kerosene lamp, with a flat circular reflector, newly polished, and fresh oil in its well."  What I do like about the cover is the window in the background, in which one can see the numerous ravens flying around, as if they are preparing to swoop in and scavenge for whatever treasures they can find.  It's the perfect imagery for the characters in the story (and, hence, the title of the book), as Courtney tries to figure out who among them is working against her and against Sarah to try and steal the inheritance left by Jacob Padgett.  

This book was published in July 1983 alongside the first book in the series, the two acting as a sort of "breeder set" for this new Harlequin series.  At the same time, Harlequin also offered up two other new series:  their Regency Romance series and their new Romantic Suspense series.  An advertisement for all three series appeared on the inside back cover of these first two books, encouraging readers to "Discover the new and unique Harlequin Category-Romance Specials!"  The ad described the books as "A new and exciting world of romance reading."  The Regency Romance series lasted the longest (22 books from 1983 to 1988), while this Gothic Romance series lasted 18 books (from 1983 to 1988); however, the Romantic Suspense series never made it past those initial two books in 1983.  Perhaps because the Romantic Suspense stories were so similar in nature to the Gothic Romance books, Harlequin simply saw no reason to continue two series with the same subject matter.  Since then, of course, Harlequin has offered up other Regency and Suspense series, some of which continue being published today.

This book, for whatever reason, proved to be the hardest of the Harlequin Gothic Romance books to find.  I eventually took a chance with Thrift Books (who I normally try to avoid buying from, as they rarely offer photos of their books being sold, they never actually describe the actual book being sold, and they place bar code stickers on the spine of every book they sell that can sometimes be difficult to remove), and by some miracle, I received the right copy of the book with a sticker that was easily removed without damage to the book.  Thus, with this book, I was finally able to complete my full set of 18 Harlequin gothics!

RATING:  10 small lavender jade Buddhas out of 10 for a great gothic tale with the right mix of mystery, suspense, danger, and romance.