Secret Rooms A True Gothic Mystery

Bailey, Catherine

£10.99

In April 1940, the ninth Duke of Rutland died in mysterious circumstances in one of the rooms of his family estate, Belvoir Castle. 60 years on, ‘The Secret Rooms’ is the true story of family secrets and one man’s determination to keep the past hidden at any cost.

Peek Inside

In stock

Publish Date: 02/05/2013

Description

A castle filled with intrigue, a plotting duchess and a mysterious death in Catherine Bailey’s The Secret Rooms.

At 6 am on 21 April 1940 John the 9th Duke of Rutland, and one of Britain’s wealthiest men, ended his days, virtually alone, lying on a makeshift bed in a dank cramped suite of rooms in the servants’ quarters of his own home, Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire.

For weeks, as his health deteriorated, his family, his servants – even the King’s doctor – pleaded with him to come out, but he refused.

After his death, his son and heir, Charles, the 10th Duke of Rutland, ordered that the rooms be locked up and they remained untouched for sixty years.

What lay behind this extraordinary set of circumstances?

For the first time, in The Secret Rooms, Catherine Bailey unravels a complex and compelling tale of love, honour and betrayal, played out in the grand salons of Britain’s stately homes at the turn of the twentieth century, and on the battlefields of the Western Front. At its core is a secret so dark that it consumed the life of the man who fought to his death to keep it hidden. This extraordinary mystery from the author of Black Diamonds, perfect for lovers of Downton Abbey, Brideshead Revisited and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

Praise for The Secret Rooms:

‘Reads like the best kind of mystery story. It is a tale of mistresses and heirlooms, cowardice and connivance, and a deeply dysfunctional family…gripping’ Sunday Times

Astonishing…jaw-dropping…It would spoil the book if I revealed the whole works, suffice it to say…what a family’ Sunday Telegraph

‘An extraordinary detective operation‘ John Julius Norwich

Additional information

Weight 351 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 30 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

ix, 466 , 24 unnumbered of plates

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

942.54084 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K