Shadow Acres - a Magnum Gothic novel

This is my first time reading a Gothic novel by Frances Y. McHugh, who wrote a number of Gothic tales back during this period for various publishers.  This book was first published in 1967 by Arcadia House, and the edition I own is a later paperback printing from Prestige Books under their "Magnum" line.  I could not find anything out about this particular author so unsure if McHugh is the author's actual name or simply a pen name for someone else.  In either event, the story turned out to be a fairly good read, albeit a mixture of murder mystery and Gothic.

 

Shadow Acres is told from a first-person point-of-view, narrated by the main character, Reda Randall.  McHugh opens the story in the "present," so to speak, as Reda is thinking about the events that took place at the great house known as Shadow Acres, wondering if everything that transpired was a result of her action or inaction.  Her reverie is broken when her fiance, Bryan Sedgwick shows up, ready to take her out for a night on the town.  Through her conversation with Bryan, the reader learns of Bryan's cousin, Greg, and his father, Gregory, as well as a bit about his and Greg's grandfather, the first Gregory Sedgwick.  Slowly, McHugh reveals a bit more about the drama that has led these characters to this point - the fact that Reda was once engaged to Greg, but when he was found with a scantily clad woman in his college dorm, she broke off the engagement, he left the country, and she eventually fell for Bryan.  It is obvious from the start that Reda and Bryan's relationship has some issues - Reda is a talented pianist who is wanting to perform with her music school orchestra, but Bryan does not want her to follow that path, fearful she will do the same thing to him that his aunt (who was an actress) did to his uncle (left him for her leading man!). 

 

The mystery begins when Reda is preparing for a party she and Bryan are to attend, when she is summoned to Shadow Acres, which is hours away from her NYC apartment.  The elder Gregory Sedgwick will not take no for an answer, and so Reda sends her regrets to the hosts of the party, leaves a message for Bryan who is supposed to pick her up, and takes the train to Shadow Acres.  Upon her arrival, late at night, she finds the house quiet.  No one answers the door, which she discovers to be unlocked.  Her fear mounting, she enters the house - and finds her fiance holding a gun in his hand ... and in the library behind him, Gregory Sedgwick is lying dead on the floor with a gunshot wound to his head!  Second later, Greg, who was believed to still be in South America, walks in the door, claiming he looked through the window and saw Bryan kneeling over their grandfather with the gun.  Reda and the reader are left to wonder - who killed Gregory Sedgwick?

 

McHugh plays it coy, as the identity of the killer is not obvious by any means.  In fact, as the story progresses, we learn that growing up, Greg was a bit of the wild boy, the rebel, while Bryan was always the obedient, good boy.  Bryan seems to be the obvious suspect, but clues begin to spring up that point to Greg as the killer.  It isn't until a large flower pot falls (is dropped?) from the roof above Reda (pp. 85-86) that we start to see some of the Gothic elements creep in.  Not three pages later, our poor heroine is knocked pretty hard in the back of the head (p. 89), which is the result of a stone taken from Greg's rare rock collection.  It is obvious someone is out to hurt, or possibly kill Reda, but the question is - why?  To whom is she a threat?  There is also the growing tension between Greg and Bryan, as Bryan grows jealous of Greg's attention toward his fiance, and Greg believes Reda is not truly in love with Bryan but still in love with him.  If all of this is not enough to drive a poor girl crazy, then what is?

 

It is the fire in Reda's room, set while she is sleeping, that begins to turn the tide.  Someone places a burning cigarette on her bed, locks her windows, and leave the room, looking the door behind them!  Poor Reda is nearly killed, if it weren't for the fortunate timing of Greg, rescuing her through her second story window.  Is Greg really the killer, and simply covering his tracks by appearing to rescue her?  Does Bryan want her dead, jealous of her returning feelings for his cousin?  Could it be one of the servants - John or his wife, Agnes - who, for unknown reasons, want Reda out of the picture?  Or is there someone else in the house - someone whose shadow Reda saw on the outskirts of the woods one night ... whose footsteps she heard in the rooms above her when John and Agnes were both downstairs ... whose connection to the house and the family could spell ultimate doom for Reda?!

 

No credit given to the cover artist, but it is a beautifully rendered scene, with Reda running away from the house.  Interestingly, the artist breaks from the tradition of having an upper floor window lighted, and instead, chooses to have a lighted window on the first floor (likely to coincide with the murder of the elder Gregory Sedgwick taking place in the library on the first floor).  The depicted scene is extremely dark, with the only real color being the design on her dress, her pale skin, the light in the window, and the dark green grass leading up the hill to the house.  There's no doubt this cover sets the dark mood for the story contained within.  The Arcadia House cover from the original publisher definitely gives the book a more "murder mystery" feel to it, which supports Lori A. Page's observation in her critical study of the Gothic novels of this period that publishers got to the point where they took previously published works, slapped a new cover on it, and called it "Gothic" (The Gothic Romance Wave). 

 

While I would not say this is one of the best Gothics I've ever read, the story was enjoyable enough that I would pick up more of McHugh's books. 

 

RATING:  9 rare bluestone specimens out of 10 for a tale filled with suspense and mystery, with plenty of secrets and misdirects to keep the main character (and the reader!) guessing.