The Time of the Hunter's Moon / Victoria Holt

 

The Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

3.5 stars

I'm not sure how I missed reading this Holt novel way back when. I may have by-passed it, as my mother and I used to share them and we decided at one point that her gothic romances were no longer up to our standards. A quick calculation reveals that the author would have been 75 years old when this was published, so she must have been a lively older woman.

I enjoyed this adventure a great deal, possibly because it was brand new to me. Of course, it became obvious from early in the story that Cordelia was to be matched up with several men, but there is little doubt which one she will choose.

There are a lot of Jane Eyre-like details. Cordelia is an orphan, raised by an aunt. Thankfully, her Aunt Pattie is nothing like Jane's Aunt Reed. Cordelia must earn her living as a school teacher and ends up teaching the two nieces of the local aristocrat, Jason Verringer. Like Mr. Rochester, he has a past. Cordelia arrives on the day of his invalid wife's funeral. The local grapevine is delighted to fill her in on their speculation that he murdered the wife in order to marry his mistress, who is ensconced in a nearby cottage. He pursues Cordelia determinedly, but she refuses to be caught, despite being seriously attracted to him. Her reputation is important if she is to keep her teaching position. She also has a banker as a suitor, rather like Jane's cousin St. John.

There is also a mystery swirling. Cordelia met a mysterious man while at finishing school in Switzerland and thought he was interested in her. He kept turning up in her life, something that made him seem like a romantic prospect. Then he vanishes without a word and she finds that everything he told her was a lie. Later, she learns that he married one of her close school friends, who has subsequently died in a skiing accident. There are a lot of women disappearing and dying under suspicious circumstances and Cordelia tries to piece together the clues to prevent further tragedy.

This is a very predictable book. As I said earlier, it is easily told early in the game which man she will end up with. I figured out the major points of the mystery, although some of details eluded me. Still it was a very entertaining way to fill the Gothic square for Halloween Bingo.




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