The Secret of Greylands

by Annie Haynes

"There's no dirty trick he wouldn't play--it's my belief that he wouldn't even stop at murder!" Her husband unmasked as a scoundrel, Lady Cynthia Letchingham seeks refuge at her cousin Hannah's north-country home Greylands. But on Cynthia's arrival, she finds Hannah an invalid, having recently suffered a mysterious paralysis; the house is devoid of servants, and Hannah's husband, charming and sinister by turns, keeps watch over everything and everyone. Only the presence of charming Sybil Hammond and a darkly handsome neighbour relieve the atmosphere for Cynthia - but then a dark red stain appears mysteriously on the sleeve of her coat... What has really happened to Hannah, and the other entangled mysteries along the way, make The Secret of Greylands (1924) an absorbing golden age crime novel matching Wilkie Collins' high Victorian gothic to the agility of early jazz age fiction. This new edition, the first in over eighty years, features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "Not only a crime story of merit, but also a novel which will interest readers to whom mystery for its own sake has little appeal." Nation "Full of thrills and unexpected developments." Star "A most skilfully written detective story and the mystery is carried through quite brilliantly." Clarion "A capital story--highly ingenious." Truth

Genres: Mystery, Gothic, Crime, Fiction, Golden Age Mystery, Classics, Mystery Thriller

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Annie Haynes was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, UK, in 1864. After her father abandoned the family, she lived with her grandparents, mother and brother on the country estate of Coleorton Hall in Leicestershire, where her grandfather Montgomery Henderson was the landscape gardener.

After her mother's death in 1905 she moved to London, where she lived with a friend, Ada Heather-Bigg. Interested in detective novels and subjects related to crime and criminal psychology, Haynes visited murder scenes and attended trials.

Her first novel, The Bungalow Mystery, was published in 1923, but she had already had several long stories serialised in newspapers, some of which were published as books later. The last of her twelve novels, The Crystal Beads Murder, published after her death, was completed by an anonymous writer.

Haynes died in 1929, having suffered from crippling rheumatoid arthritis for some fifteen years.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

The mostly forgotten Annie Haynes is being brought back by Dean Street Press, which I applaud. She has a great line in scary atmosphere and good character development, although her characters tend to be, let us say flawed. No heroism here. The mystery basically isn't one to the reader, even if it baffles the idiot heroine, but this is actually a Woman Running From Big House Gothic of a highly atmospheric modernish variety.

Haynes moved in early feminist circles. This one starts tremendously, with a just-married woman on the run from her husband because she's just discovered he seduced, ruined and abandoned her best friend. (She knew about the ruin but not who did it. I assume the friend got pregnant.) And it's relatively frank about people's highly shonky sex lives for the time. Sadly, the heroine is so fragile she shatters when looked at, the villainess fails to have the courage of her original convictions and becomes a victim of the abusive baddie, and the ending crashes back into Victorian values in a thoroughly exasperating way. (Annie Haynes' endings tend to the weirdly truncated epilogue: here we have a massive plot twist and two-year time jump dealt with in a couple of paragraphs. Annie, are you OK.)

An interesting piece though not my favourite of hers.

[Mike Finn]

Reluctantly Abandoned At 35%

The good news is that I can add Annie Haynes as a Golden Age Mystery writer that I enjoy. I'm sure I'll be back for more of her work.

The less good news is that I just don't have the energy to finish this book. I read for pleasure and I think I've wrung as much enjoyment out of this book as I'm going to get, so I'm moving on.

I really enjoyed the opening of the book. It was gloriously gothic: a lone woman, running from trouble; a deserted railway station, spooky moorland, isolated mist-cloaked farmhouse first encountered in darkness and a mercurial, handsome-but-untrustworthy man offering an unfriendly welcome.

It's beautifully done: heavy on atmosphere and full of foreboding.

My problem with the book is that I'm a lot more cynical than the audience that would have been reading this book back in 1924. I'm like those kids in modern horror novels who won't go into the basement alone when they hear a strange noise because they've seen all the horror movies showing what a dumb idea that is. I look at the man our heroine meets in the cottage and my first thought was: 'What is he hiding?' A few chapters later and, although our heroine remains clueless, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on. I mean, there was the stuff the parrot was saying. And the strange behaviour of the dog. And the blood. Where did she think that came from?

About a quarter of the way through the book, there's a scene where our heroine is finally allowed to meet her cousin, Lady Hannah, who she travelled a long way to see but who has apparently been too ill to meet with her. As the scene unfolded all I could think of was Red Ridinghood meeting the wolf.

I wonder how it was received in its day? Did readers immediately know the trick that was being played and take it as confirmation of Lady Hannah's death as I did or where they taken in? Is our heroine shown as so weak and timid so that this ruse can be given some plausibility or are we all supposed to be yelling at her to wake up?

From that point on, I was kept wondering how long it was going to take for our heroine to get her act together and move out of victim mode. One of the reasons that I don't have the motivation to finish the book is that I think our heroine was born a victim and it's never going to change. She's not bright, not brave and not that interesting. Her main talent seems to be her ability to blush.

In my interior dialogue, I tell myself that I should be making allowances for her. She's a woman of her times. She has her own troubles. And anyway, what's wrong with being meek? They're going to inherit that Earth you know. At least, they will after everyone else is done with it.

I couldn't keep my attention on the story. Instead, I imagined modern remake in which, when the truth becomes clear, our heroine unleashes anger she didn't know she had, executes the two miscreants with a carving knife and leaves with the dog and the parrot. The parrot gets the final line of the book - 'Poor Hannah'.

Anyway, I've set this aside but I'll be back at some point to read 'The Bungalow Mystery'.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a very quick read, fortunately. I can't believe someone actually compared this to Wilkie Collins' work. Uhm, no. Collins is always entertaining. I can't say the same for Annie Haynes. I can see why it's been 80 years since this book was in print. There's something very Victorian about this book, which surprises me since it was originally published in 1924.

Cynthia makes the mistake of marrying someone she really doesn't know all that well, an older man with a title and apparently something of a past with the ladies. Soon after her marriage, she receives a letter from an old friend, who accuses Cynthia's new husband of "ruining" the friend and then abandoning her. Cynthia quarrels with her husband over this and then promptly leaves him to go live with Lady Hannah Gillman, an older relative she has not seen in many years.

Cynthia finds the house shut up with Henry Gillman, Hannah's husband, guarding the entrance. He reminded me of the Doorman in "The Wizard of Oz," popping his head out the door and peremptorily refusing entry to Cynthia, but eventually reneging and acting like it was his idea the whole time.

The Gillman household is an odd one. There are no servants, despite the fact that they should be able to afford them. Hannah isolates herself in her bedroom and seldom sees anyone, though she grants visitations to Cynthia and her cousin Sybil. Hannah's dog and parrot are distraught and acting strangely. Henry Gillman cannot make up his mind whether to be charming or menacing.

There were many, many times when I wanted to just shake Cynthia and tell her, "You idiot, get out of that house!" There's not really a mystery. In fact, there is no suspense at all. The villain is obvious and so is the truth behind what is going on. However, Cynthia is so incredibly stupid that she doesn't realize any of this. Whenever things get tough, she faints. That's how she deals with stress - she passes out and lets other people handle the problem.

I kept thinking that maybe this was a parody of the gothic genre. However, I am inclined to think that Ms Haynes was serious, as depressing as that sounds. I'm going to try another of her books, but if it's anything like this one, I am going to give up on her entirely.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this as a group read, otherwise I think I might have DNf'd it!! Strangely though it was compelling to a point. It's easy to guess what's going to happen in certain parts. Everyone can see it, except the heroine of the piece!
Some body was kind in the group and said Cynthia was a few sandwiches short of a picnic, I thought she was as thick as a plank and a right ninny at times. She went from demure and blushing to 'looking coldly' which jarred for me.
The mystery was quite good, it was Cynthia's attitude that annoyed me. And the turn about when her husband got ill, PLEASE!!!!!
Giving it three stars because it kept me reading.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. A gothic mystery complete with loads of deception and the requisite fainting spells.

I thought the first half especially, good with the suspense. I had a feeling of unease and being on the edge of my seat. As the story unfolds bit by bit you can see where it’s going but it’s still fun to wait for our « fearless » heroine to get there. Also, to really see how the pieces fall together and if you’ve guessed correctly or not.

It’s my first read by this author and I will read more of her books.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret of Greylands is a novel by Annie Haynes published in 1924. There is a secret at Greylands, more than one actually and I'm wondering which secret makes it onto the front of the book. One of the things I find to be a mystery, although not a great one, is that if you click on the name of our author on Amazon the only thing it says about her is "Customers also bought items by Patricia Wentworth". I fail to see what that matters, and I haven't looked to see who Patricia Wentworth is and when and what she wrote, I have a pretty good idea just from that sentence. It didn't really matter because I read a biography about her, Annie Hayes not the other person, so I know a little about her anyway. Here's the short version:

Annie Haynes was born in 1865, the daughter of an ironmonger. By the first decade of the twentieth century she lived in London and moved in literary and early feminist circles. Her first crime novel, The Bungalow Mystery, appeared in 1923, and another nine mysteries were published before her untimely death in 1929.

If you can't wait to know more, let me know. For now I'm on to The Secret of Greylands.

The book begins with Cynthia running away to Glastwick, a place she's never been before, to her cousin Hannah, a women she hasn't seen since she was a child, who lives at Greylands, a place she's never heard of before. Why? It seems her husband of an hour or two has ended up being a scoundrel, and she left as soon as she could.

So Cynthia Letchingham, yesterday Cynthia Densham, seeks refuge at her cousin Hannah’s home, Greylands. A few things have been going wrong for Cynthia, she's not only unlucky, but does some of the dumbest things you could do. Poor Cynthia got a letter from her best friend two hours too late:

I have seen the announcement of your approaching marriage to Lord Letchingham; I must make one effort to save you from such certain unhappiness. Lord Letchingham is the man whose name I refused to give your mother - the man who deceived me by a false marriage and left me to a life of shame and misery. Now that you know the truth you must do as you think fit. Only for the value of the love we bore one another in the old days have I broken the silence I had hoped to maintain to the end.

Your heart-broken friend,

Alice Winthrop

My first thought was, wow she's depressed. We're told that Cynthia doesn't take her friend's word for it, but confronts her husband, it isn't exactly clear what happened next:

The very memory of the scene that followed was terrible and, seizing her first chance of escape, she had fled from her husband and, remembering her Cousin Hannah's letter, had determined to appeal to her for refuge.

Yes, she also got a letter from her cousin, but it also didn't reach her until the morning of the wedding:

Dear Cynthia,

I expect you have forgotten me. It is many years since we met, but I know you have heard your father speak of his Cousin Hannah, and I could not let this momentous occasion in your life pass without a word from me. In a very few days you will receive my wedding gift. It is one that perhaps you will think little enough of now, but at any rate it will give you what I myself prize above all things, a certain independence of your husband - a refuge to which you can turn in time of trouble. I can assure you...

Here the letter broke off abruptly and began lower down the page in a strangely different strain.

Oh, Cynthia, come to me! If you can only spare a day or two from your preparations for your wedding, come. I have tried to bear it in silence to the end, but I am old and weak and frightened - so frightened! For your father's sake, come and help me,

Cynthia.

Your cousin,

Hannah Gillman

Well that's mysterious isn't it? And now Cynthia is going there, it is one place she knows her husband has never heard of, so she should be safe. But on Cynthia’s arrival, she finds her cousin is an invalid, having recently suffered a mysterious paralysis, a stroke is the closest thing I can think of, but it seems strange for that; and the house doesn't have a single servant in it, only Hannah’s husband, her very young, charming, and sometimes sinister husband who keeps watch over everything and everyone. Gee, I wonder who the bad guy is going to be. Why aren't there any servants to help take care of her? Hannah can't stand them. Why is there never a doctor around? There is, but he just doesn't happen to be there when Cynthia is around. Why is her bedroom door always locked from the outside? She can't stand the thought of anyone being able to enter her room at any time, only her husband and who he lets in. Cynthia believes this. Only the presence of charming Sybil Hammond, another cousin from a different side of the family make this dark and creepy place bearable. Well her and the handsome neighbor, unfortunately he won't be too thrilled when he finds out she's married. Besides, handsome people in this book aren't to be trusted, well I wouldn't trust them but it's a mystery story, I wouldn't trust anyone right now.

At one place in the book an old woman just walks through the house, up the stairs, and disappears, and Cynthia doesn't bother to find out who she is or where she went. In fact, no one else does either, the lady who comes in to clean now and then saw her and says she was a ghost and the story just moves on. I guess some mysteries are meant to stay mysteries. Hannah has a parrot, I don't know why, I guess some people like having parrots for pets, I'll stick to cocker spaniels, anyway, this parrot is constantly saying:

"Poor Hannah! Now stop that sniveling! Poor Hannah!"

Cynthia laughs and Gillman (the husband) says one day he'll kill the parrot it talks so much. Don't you think a parrot saying that over and over would be a clue something isn't right? Cynthia doesn't seem to think so. I have to mention this in the Cynthia is too dumb to live to the end of the book part. At one point Cynthia overhears a plot to get rid of her:

A very real fear for her own safety took possession of her. Whatever scheme it might be that was proposed for ensuring her silence, she now knew no obstacle would be in the way of its fulfillment. She could not look for help or protection. Her only hope lay in getting away from Greylands as quickly as possible, but she saw plainly that it would have to be accomplished without their knowledge. No Kidding She knew too much to be allowed to carry her story to Lady Hannah's friends. Fearing that they should find out how much she had overheard, the girl turned and with tottering steps made her way back to the room she had left.

She went back to her room!!! There were other doors closer, all of them going outside, all of them I would pick before her choice. Read the book, see if she makes it back to her bedroom and then happily eats the meal she is brought later. I'm not telling you the rest, I liked the book, it was fun that's all that really matters. Happy reading.

[Natalie aka Tannat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a wonderfully Gothic mystery, although Cynthia fleeing her husband that way felt weird until I remembered it was published back in 1925. Then it made a lot more sense. The first half was very engaging but I found it started to drag in the middle. I mean, Cynthia was just so oblivious. I'm pretty sure the reader was supposed to be shouting at her all throughout, however. I didn't particularly like the ending but I felt it was probably the only one that the readers of 1925 would have found acceptable, and overall the book was a lot of fun, albeit in a slightly trashy way.

[Mary Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the reviewers that said this book is more like Victorian gothic than a golden age mystery. I didn't hate it but it was hard to believe anyone could be as unaware and oblivious as these characters were. The main character could not deal with any kind of stress and ran away from her husband because of something he did before they were married. The safe space she ran to was not safe at all and she faints and her bottom lip trembles and eventually she gets rescued. It could have been a fun read if there were at least some surprises. I kept hoping the girl would show some gumption and smarts. I may try another book by this author in the future but probably not.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is my favorite of Annie Haynes so far! Good mystery!

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by this, 'time has forgotten' golden age writer. I enjoyed the first one but this one, not so much. It's got that neglected and forlorn house in the moors which contains a dark mystery plot, to which, I have been drawn to since my days as a child, when I would sneak out of my bedroom late at night to watch movies, hoping my parents wouldn't catch me. However, as another reviewer has pointed out, things are a little too obvious and our heroine is incredibly naive. So maybe she doesn't know what's going on but you certainly will.

Unfortunately, this plot line is a well trodden path and this time there was not enough unexpected turns to make it work. I liked the other book I read well enough and I will read more by this author, but this one, I have to rate as a bit of a let down.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilariously gothic, terrifyingly byronic and huge fun - with more rugged moreland than a Bronte novel! Its downside was I didn't like any of the characters, especially the heroine who is wet and judgmental in equal measure. Also, Haynes ducks out of writing a decent denuement to the plot with a convenient death. Definitely worth a read though - but not with the light off, especially if you live in a rambling pile of a house that's seen better days!

[Ruthiella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set perhaps in the late Victoria era, Cynthia leaves her husband the day after the wedding because she discovered he “ruined” one of her friends. An orphan, she runs to her father’s cousin Hannah’s country home, even though she’s not seen Hannah since Cynthia was a child. When she arrives, she finds only Hannah’s new husband, who won’t let Cynthia see Hannah due to her illness. But he does begrudging let Cynthia stay. It soon becomes increasingly obvious that all is not right chez Cousin Hannah. Cynthia is increasingly isolated and uncertain what to do, though she does find allies in unexpected places.

I thought this was a pretty terrible book. The “mystery” was obvious from the first couple of chapters and Cynthia was a nitwit 100% of the time and just dull as a character, as was her love interest. I think if I had known what to expect, I would have had more fun reading this silly book. It’s far more a cut-rate Mary Stewart gothic romance than it is a cut rate Agatha Christie crime novel.

Read for the Furrowed Middlebrow Club on Litsy

[Don Drewniak · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot revolves around a young women impersonating an older one in order that she and her partner in crime, the villainous Henry Gillman, can gain control of Greylands Manor and the attendant wealth of its owner, Lady Hannah. A muddle-headed main character, Cynthia Densham (aka Lady Letchingham) and her lone potential savoir, Sir Donald Farquhar, were unable to figure out the ruse until near the end of the story despite one clue after another staring them in the face. For those old enough to remember the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Superman, this was somewhat akin to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen not being able to figure out that Superman was Clark Kent.

[Subashini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objectively speaking, not a very good book (or mystery), but hilariously campy and hysterically gothic.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Victorian for a Golden Age mystery. If the heroine fainted one more time I’d have felt like coshing her myself.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty ridiculous, but also very entertaining? I loved the gothic vibes, but the heroine was one of the, er, most naïve that I've come across in a really long time.

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

#FurrowedMiddleBrowClub on Litsy - May 2024

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

No doubt who the murderer is but wondering how the heroine can escape keeps you reading til the end.

[Kay Robart · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021...