The Man in the Dark

＂Yes, and then I’ll go over Miss Kay’s rooms with either you or the housekeeper.＂

＂There is no housekeeper, Miss.＂

From his voice it sounded as if the housekeeper had been strangled and her body put in the cellar; it nearly made Marda giggle.

James Longford, a wealthy former racing car driver with vision loss from an accident several years before, hires 26-year-old Marda Mayne as companion to his newly-orphaned 17-year-old American ward Shirley. His main concern is to avoid being troubled so he can continue to live in self-imposed isolation, but as plucky, practical Marda and flirtatious, kind-hearted Shirley take his intimidating household staff in hand (and find an unexpected ally in that surly butler), they also begin to revive James’ interest in life. The trio will have to brace themselves, however, when his self-absorbed, manipulative sister Vera-who sees his fortune as practically already hers-announces a visit.

The Man in the Dark is the fifth of twelve charming, page-turning romances published under the pseudonym ＂Susan Scarlett＂ by none other than beloved children’s author and novelist Noel Streatfeild. Out of print for decades, they were rediscovered by Greyladies Books in the early 2010s, and Dean Street Press and Furrowed Middlebrow are delighted now to make all twelve available to a wider audience.

＂A writer who shows a rich experience in her writing and a charm＂ Nottingham Journal