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This is the twenty third book in the Roderick Alleyn series, which was first published in 1963. The mystery is set in Portcarrow, where a sudden miracle, in a local spring, sees a young boy cured of his warts. This leads to a great deal of tourist money pouring into the local community. Major Barrymore has more guests as the ‘Boy and Lobster,’ the Reverend Carstairs finds his Church Fund suddenly has a surge of donations, Miss Cost opens her ‘Gift Shoppe,’ and even Dr Maine finds himself extendi
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"That's Wally's cottage. We're about to climb Wally's Way - and that is Wally's mama, another alcoholic, by the by, leering over the back fence. His father is ferryman at high tide and general showman in between. The whole boiling of them - the Barrimores, the Parson, the Doctor, the Major, the Treherns, Miss Cost herself, with pretty well everybody else in the community - stood to lose by Miss Pride's operations. Apart from arousing the cornered fury of a hunted male, it's difficult to discover
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A young boy cured of warts on his hands by a magical woman from a spring, starts this story, which is one of Marsh's better ones in my opinion. This occurrence brings fame, and indeed fortune to the small island where the spring is located. The owner of the island does not believe this miraculous vision and cure and does not want the island changed by it's notoriety, and therefore receives threats from the inhabitants. Alleyn decides to accompany the owner on a visit to the island and the action
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A good addition to the series: Fox speaks French, Troy appears, an interesting setting and premise. My only complaint is the overly-used and incorrect spinster traits that pop up in too many classic mysteries.
Jun 12, 2013
Miss M
marked it as second-in-line
Nov 17, 2015
Gary Vassallo
marked it as ebook-library
Jul 08, 2017
Rachel Burke
marked it as want-to-buy
Jan 01, 2020
Bernadette
added it
May 13, 2020
Sabrina
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2021
Darcy
marked it as to-read
Nov 16, 2022
Jaya Bhat
marked it as to-read
