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A Haunted Place
VILLAGE OF GHOSTS
When her car broke down in the long-abandoned French village of St. Lazare, lovely American actress Jane Shore hoped she'd be on her way again by nightfall. But in the nearby town of Marie-des-Mortes, Jane did not find the help she sought, facing instead suspicion and open hostility. For the villagers were actually convinced that Jane was one of the ghosts of St. Lazare, come to put the curse of death on them!
Only Dr. Duncan Frazier, a handsome archaeologist studying the local ruins, seemed free of the dangerous madness that possessed the townspeople. And as the evil forces in Marie-des-Mortes sought to enclose her in a deadly trap, Jane turned desperately to Duncan for help. Yet how could one man defeat both an entire town and the dark power that had marked Jane for its victim...?
When her car broke down in the long-abandoned French village of St. Lazare, lovely American actress Jane Shore hoped she'd be on her way again by nightfall. But in the nearby town of Marie-des-Mortes, Jane did not find the help she sought, facing instead suspicion and open hostility. For the villagers were actually convinced that Jane was one of the ghosts of St. Lazare, come to put the curse of death on them!
Only Dr. Duncan Frazier, a handsome archaeologist studying the local ruins, seemed free of the dangerous madness that possessed the townspeople. And as the evil forces in Marie-des-Mortes sought to enclose her in a deadly trap, Jane turned desperately to Duncan for help. Yet how could one man defeat both an entire town and the dark power that had marked Jane for its victim...?
184 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
About the author
Virginia Coffman
91 books44 followersVirginia Edith Coffman aka Jeanne Duval, Diana Saunders, Victor Cross, Ann Stanfield, Virginia C. Du Vaul, Kay Cameron.
A native of San Francisco, Coffman contributed movie reviews to the Oakland Tribune from 1933-40. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938 and was a movie and television script writer for Columbia, RKO, and other Hollywood studios in her early writing career (1944-56). She had her first success with writing novels in 1959, when Crown Publishing decided to take a chance on Moura, and the novel was showcased by Library Journal. By the 1980s, Coffman was recognized as "the author largely responsible for setting off the Gothics craze of the 1960s, "earning her the reputation of "Queen of the Gothics."1
She quit her day job in Reno and became a full-time writer in 1965. While historical romance novels seldom find their way into the literary canon, Coffman, who was both prolific and dedicated, took her writing seriously. Her research for historical fiction was meticulous. She also drew upon personal experience as a world traveler when setting some of her novels in Hawaii, Paris, and other romantic locales. Several of her historical romances and gothic mystery novels were translated into other languages, and many have been published in large print and audio editions.
She was recognized by Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the West. She was a member of the Authors League of America and the Mystery Writers Guild of America. The Reno Gazette-Journal featured Virginia Coffman and her sister in a biographical story on April 4, 2002. In 2003, she donated a collection of her gothic mystery and historical romance novels to the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
A native of San Francisco, Coffman contributed movie reviews to the Oakland Tribune from 1933-40. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938 and was a movie and television script writer for Columbia, RKO, and other Hollywood studios in her early writing career (1944-56). She had her first success with writing novels in 1959, when Crown Publishing decided to take a chance on Moura, and the novel was showcased by Library Journal. By the 1980s, Coffman was recognized as "the author largely responsible for setting off the Gothics craze of the 1960s, "earning her the reputation of "Queen of the Gothics."1
She quit her day job in Reno and became a full-time writer in 1965. While historical romance novels seldom find their way into the literary canon, Coffman, who was both prolific and dedicated, took her writing seriously. Her research for historical fiction was meticulous. She also drew upon personal experience as a world traveler when setting some of her novels in Hawaii, Paris, and other romantic locales. Several of her historical romances and gothic mystery novels were translated into other languages, and many have been published in large print and audio editions.
She was recognized by Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the West. She was a member of the Authors League of America and the Mystery Writers Guild of America. The Reno Gazette-Journal featured Virginia Coffman and her sister in a biographical story on April 4, 2002. In 2003, she donated a collection of her gothic mystery and historical romance novels to the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 6, 2025
While not a terrible book, it's not great either. It's certainly there, I guess.
The book's plot is like a 'drug store' folk horror. It grabs all the flashier hallmarks needed for folk horror, but at a discounted price and product. Still, it was a rather entertaining read if only for Jane Shore: famous, successful actress, and our illustrious leading lady having an unrequited beef with a small, insignificant rural town's teen girl because -checks notes- she's younger and prettier than said lead heroine. Great times actually!
As much as I love a good 'rural, country bumpkins believe in superstitious nonsense' and the danger that ensues, this book had the weakest reasons for why Jane is targeted, like the reasons revealed are not what the reader saw in Jane at all. All this famous lady wants is to get the hell out of this town and has no interest in it whatsoever. Had they just let her leave, they could have happily carried on as they were, illegal activities included.
The romance, as is usually the case in these old gothic romances, is hilariously abrupt, which, ngl, adds a certain charm to these books in a way that somehow current insta-love books just can't hold a candle to. Perhaps it's the whole 'is the love interest actually a bad guy?' red herring that makes it work for me.
Overall, if you can get your hands on a copy, the book is a quick read that holds entertainment in its boxes checked absurdity, and I suppose time capsule feel of 1968.
The book's plot is like a 'drug store' folk horror. It grabs all the flashier hallmarks needed for folk horror, but at a discounted price and product. Still, it was a rather entertaining read if only for Jane Shore: famous, successful actress, and our illustrious leading lady having an unrequited beef with a small, insignificant rural town's teen girl because -checks notes- she's younger and prettier than said lead heroine. Great times actually!
As much as I love a good 'rural, country bumpkins believe in superstitious nonsense' and the danger that ensues, this book had the weakest reasons for why Jane is targeted, like the reasons revealed are not what the reader saw in Jane at all. All this famous lady wants is to get the hell out of this town and has no interest in it whatsoever. Had they just let her leave, they could have happily carried on as they were, illegal activities included.
The romance, as is usually the case in these old gothic romances, is hilariously abrupt, which, ngl, adds a certain charm to these books in a way that somehow current insta-love books just can't hold a candle to. Perhaps it's the whole 'is the love interest actually a bad guy?' red herring that makes it work for me.
Overall, if you can get your hands on a copy, the book is a quick read that holds entertainment in its boxes checked absurdity, and I suppose time capsule feel of 1968.
September 1, 2025
A movie star called Jane Shore is driving through the south of France when her car runs out of gas beside a long-deserted plague village. After some poking about, she makes her way to the neighbouring inhabited town, only to find that the locals there think she has brought the village's curse with her. Menace, murder and a little romance follows.
This book doesn't seem to have a point or a focus. The premise with Jane being lost in the deserted village is promising but the unease evaporates pretty quickly as she (fairly easily) reaches the next town, and from that point onwards Jane's plight is not exciting to read about, as there aren't any moments of real peril. Mostly she is simply shunned and whispered about by suspicious local townsfolk. Oddly, there is also no language barrier....apparently everybody in rural France speaks and understands English. And the romance element is extremely arbitrary - by the end of the book Jane is somehow in love with a very lightly sketched male character that for the most of the book's length she doesn't see much of, or like very much.
Not recommended, not even with the dramatic cover illustrations of a gothic castle looming behind the heroine. There is no castle!
This book doesn't seem to have a point or a focus. The premise with Jane being lost in the deserted village is promising but the unease evaporates pretty quickly as she (fairly easily) reaches the next town, and from that point onwards Jane's plight is not exciting to read about, as there aren't any moments of real peril. Mostly she is simply shunned and whispered about by suspicious local townsfolk. Oddly, there is also no language barrier....apparently everybody in rural France speaks and understands English. And the romance element is extremely arbitrary - by the end of the book Jane is somehow in love with a very lightly sketched male character that for the most of the book's length she doesn't see much of, or like very much.
Not recommended, not even with the dramatic cover illustrations of a gothic castle looming behind the heroine. There is no castle!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews