Lady Audrey's Secret

This novel was published in 1862 and starts off with Audley Court, a place that at one time was a convent but now belongs to one of the gentry, Sir Michael Audley, who is 56. He is married to his second wife, Lucy, and has a daughter, Alicia, who is 18.

The story is basically a murder mystery, with blackmail, desertion and cover-ups thrown in to boot. George Talboys is the character around which the novel revolves and who has his own problems. Robert Audley is another of the main characters, and is George's best friend.

The novel revolves around a major disappearance, and Robert sets out to find out what happened. To do that, he has to investigate the past of certain people that might be involved, and he clashes with Lady Audley throughout much of the book.

Bit by bit Robert is able to construct the past, both slightly distant and recently past, of certain people, and it's not a pretty past that he finds. Still, he continues.

There's also some romance in the book, as there is a woman that Robert is in love with but he's not ready to commit to anything (he doesn't really do anything for a living.)

The mystery part of the book is quite good, but the strength of the book like in the author's descriptive ability, both in describing the people and how they act, and also the scenes of the book, such as inside the great house and in the garden outside the house. In addition, the book is also interesting, giving the reader a desire to find out just what has been going on and what happened to George.

It's an older book but still one that will interest today's readers.

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