In "The Millionaire Baby", a young detective has more than one reason for desperately wanting to solve the mysterious case of little Gwendolen, a millionaire's daughter who disappeared on a hot August day from right under the nose of her nurse.
Was the little girl, who appears to have been everybody's darling, kidnapped for money? Nobody comes forward asking for a ransom. Did she sneak down to the river and drown? One of her shoes, found on the slope, seems to point in that direction. No wonder then that her mother will not let go of her conviction that the small body will be dragged up from the water.
Our young detective has had dealings with the family before, which facilitates his access to the house and grounds. He soon meets the widow living next door, a close friend of the bereft mother. Something does not quite add up with neither mother nor neighbour - but then there are several other characters offering clues. Or are they red herrings?
Everything happens within a few short days, and of course you can be sure that the detective not only solves the case (although not without some surprising twists), but also a budding romance looks promising for him.
I did find some of the conversation and accompanying thoughts unnecessarily lengthy at times, but generally, the story marches along at a good pace. No swear words, no steamy sex scenes and no violence - after all, the novel was first published in 1905.
Guessing part of the solution was not all that hard, but there were still a few riddles in store for me. All things considered, a good old-fashioned mystery, although not a "must read".
Because I have already written about the author in my previous two book reviews (see the links above), I will not repeat it here.
This sounds interesting and the price is certainly right! A good review that makes me want to read the book now.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to know that my review has that effect on you, Kristi.
Deletei like mysterious stories ,they are good exercise for brain !
ReplyDeletethis one sounds really cool!
how amazing to get free book from site!
There are plenty of free ebooks in the kindle store - most of them old ones by forgotten authors, or classic works.
DeleteI don't think I heard of this author before... (if I did read either of your previous reviews, it has slipped my memory!)
ReplyDeleteBefore I'd come across her by chance (during that first huge download spree I was on shortly after I received my kindle for my birthday a few years ago); I never heard of her, either.
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