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The Luck of the Vails
When the Luck of the Vails is lost,
Fear not fire nor rain nor frost;
When the Luck is found again,
Fear both fire and frost and rain.
The Luck of the Vails is an exquisite gold cup, encrusted with precious jewels. On the eve of his twenty-first birthday, Harry Vail, twelfth baronet, discovers the chalice hidden in soft leather folds up in the attic. Little can he imagine, as he unwraps this unexpected gift, the
birthday curse he is about to bring down upon his head.
Set amid the rolling Wiltshire dales and the clattering, gaslit streets of London, The Luck of the Vails gradually reveals a long, bitter history of corruption and violence amongst the old aristocracy. It is a vintage crime story.
Fear not fire nor rain nor frost;
When the Luck is found again,
Fear both fire and frost and rain.
The Luck of the Vails is an exquisite gold cup, encrusted with precious jewels. On the eve of his twenty-first birthday, Harry Vail, twelfth baronet, discovers the chalice hidden in soft leather folds up in the attic. Little can he imagine, as he unwraps this unexpected gift, the
birthday curse he is about to bring down upon his head.
Set amid the rolling Wiltshire dales and the clattering, gaslit streets of London, The Luck of the Vails gradually reveals a long, bitter history of corruption and violence amongst the old aristocracy. It is a vintage crime story.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1901
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About the author
E.F. Benson
1,126 books361 followersEdward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 26, 2023
wow the villain in this one is something else. a cringing, submissive old man, always trying to do his kindly, helpful best for everyone, he's like Dobby from the Harry Potter novels. he will literally have a heart attack if someone says something too upsetting. he plays the fucking flute! much like Dobby, I wanted to strangle him whenever he appeared. unlike Dobby, he's also a secretly conniving villain who has killed before and is planning to kill again. watch out for the overt do-gooders! they are probably up to no good. and they definitely have their eyes on jewel-encrusted chalices e.g. "The Luck of the Vails"
this is a very slow-burning suspense novel about an introverted young man who decides to come out of his shell and stop being such an asshole, and in short order finds a social life, loyal friends, and a lovely romantic partner. unfortunately he also finds an elderly uncle who comes to live in his mansion and has... certain plans for him.
I love E.F. Benson's writing in this one. elegant, often richly descriptive, full of arch dialogue, very literary (although "literary" in a particularly old-fashioned way, which will be off-putting to many modern readers). I know him mainly for his Mapp & Lucia novels - why does Mapp always come first? - and the wit in that series appears throughout this book, despite it also being an often tense thriller, of sorts. particularly in the wonderfully offhand and insulting way that the positive characters talk to each other. loved that, reminded me of the earlier years of my own social circle. and it was a good way to contrast the heroes from the villain, who is completely obsequious to everyone, which natually gets on their nerves. no one likes a flute-playing suck-up.
this is a very slow-burning suspense novel about an introverted young man who decides to come out of his shell and stop being such an asshole, and in short order finds a social life, loyal friends, and a lovely romantic partner. unfortunately he also finds an elderly uncle who comes to live in his mansion and has... certain plans for him.
I love E.F. Benson's writing in this one. elegant, often richly descriptive, full of arch dialogue, very literary (although "literary" in a particularly old-fashioned way, which will be off-putting to many modern readers). I know him mainly for his Mapp & Lucia novels - why does Mapp always come first? - and the wit in that series appears throughout this book, despite it also being an often tense thriller, of sorts. particularly in the wonderfully offhand and insulting way that the positive characters talk to each other. loved that, reminded me of the earlier years of my own social circle. and it was a good way to contrast the heroes from the villain, who is completely obsequious to everyone, which natually gets on their nerves. no one likes a flute-playing suck-up.
February 18, 2019
Not really a murder mystery, more of a Daphne du'Maurier "Cousin Rachel" type novel. It may not be high literature (whatever that is), but Benson can really write. I knew what was going to happen, but s I was still on pins and needles. When? How? Who can Harry trust? And I do love a house with secret passages. But more than anything, this is a novel about friendship. One friend, just one good friend, can make all the difference in life. The Luck of the Vails was friendship, and it brought all kinds of other luck with it. Enjoyed this thoroughly.
April 11, 2021
I enjoyed this book in the end. I had read it was E F Benson's crime novel so I was half expecting a device type to pop up at some point. By the time I got a quite a way through and no one had been killed and nothing had been nicked, I put it down as a thriller and started to relax and enjoy it.
It's daft in places and some of the descriptions get a bit dense at times but I enjoyed it.
The female characters have a fair amount of back bone and the one lower class character who gets to talk is not written entirely in dialect which was a relief.
It's daft in places and some of the descriptions get a bit dense at times but I enjoyed it.
The female characters have a fair amount of back bone and the one lower class character who gets to talk is not written entirely in dialect which was a relief.
July 7, 2018
Fun mix of E.F. Benson's trademark social novels and a crime thriller. Think Mapp and Lucia meets Lord Peter Wimsey. The plot and writing bear up well for a novel originally published in 1901.
February 25, 2022
Very readable, and quite gripping even though it was quite obvious right from the beginning what was going to happen. The atmosphere and sense of place is really well done. He was such a prolific, and patchy, writer - his eye was in with this one.
May 8, 2024
This was very good. Very atmospheric. Felt like a ghost story. Kind of slow moving, of its time. Might be frustrating to folks that are used to quick paced page turners, but worth taking the time to enjoy. Certainly kept me engaged!
July 14, 2020
Delightful book, despite its flaws as a detective novel. Benson's post-Wilde and pre-War world of witty aristocrats behaving badly is thoroughly entertaining.
April 20, 2021
What a fun adventure/mystery! Loved it.
September 3, 2022
Agonizingly slow for the first two-thirds, and then at last the story gathered momentum! The final 80 pages flew, with a satisfying (albeit unsurprising) ending.
July 29, 2023
Old fashioned Victorian melodrama mystery, very readable.
August 30, 2025
A strange looking book, sent to me by a friend, but surprisingly good, published in 1901. Complicated plot, great characters.
March 2, 2024
The second instalment of my goal of reading one crime novel from each year of the twentieth century. This also has the dubious honour of being the first book I've had to abandon this year. I enjoyed the setup and the premise, as Lord Vail discovers a supposedly cursed goblet, with accompanying poem. But after 153 pages of nothing much happening, it seemed wise to invest my energies elsewhere.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews