The Outsider by Irene Cleaton (1944)

The Outsider
by Irene Cleaton
Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company
Copyright:  1944
Book Club Edition

"You cannot murder the Lord Advocate's cousin with the Lord Advocate's dirk!"

Respectability was the keynote of her uncle's house, and properly so, since he was Lord Advocate of all Scotland.  But life was not without excitement, Lucetta found, when she arrived at the tall dark house Sir Bruce McNeill had rented from the Earl of Moray.

Wearing her most fashionable London bonnet, Lucetta found herself at a general gathering to view, of all things, a public hanging.  Later there was dinner in the gloomy dining room on Moray Place, with talk of grave robbing between the mutton and the port.  No one noticed that a dirk was missing from the weapons hanging on the wall.

That night there was murder -- done, without doubt, by one of the respectable people who ate the Lord Advocate's rich food.

Lucetta had meant only to flirt with dour, stiff-mannered Duncan Hendie.  Lord Dunniston, a man more like the gallants of the London drawing rooms, was more to her taste.  But she found herself risking Jane's jealous fury to meet Duncan in Prince's Gardens.  And she caught herself wondering if Duncan's hand, trained in his profession to cut up dead bodies, could wield a dirk with accuracy in the dark.

There's the fascination of the Old Town lying under the mist-wreathed Castle on the Rock; there's the shadow of the dread Tolbooth and the grim work of the "body snatchers" who sell to the anatomists of the Royal College of Surgeons; there's the danger that lurks in tall old houses and a cold window blowing off the Firth of Forth in Irene Cleaton's story.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  No dust cover.  Covers and spine show a bit of wear and scuffing.  Pages are tanned and darkening from age.  Previous owner's name is blacked out on the front endpaper with the date and book club written underneath.  There's an envelope pasted to the front endpaper as a way to keep track of her books.  Binding is in the beginning stages of splitting, but pages are in tact.

**************************

Don't Delay. Buy It Now!

Why Buy From Me?

* Shipping Speed Most people are extremely amazed at how fast I get their item delivered to them. I ship the same day you pay for your item, whenever possible.

• Strong Positive Feedback 100% positive feedback. Customers are overwhelmingly pleased with the quality of the item they receive, the accuracy of the item's description, the prompt and informative email notifications, and of course the speedy delivery.
  
  * Blujay Member Since 2005 I'm here to stay.
  
  * ID Verified My feedback profile also displays the ID Verified icon. An extra level of safety and security for buyers to know.
  
  * PayPal Buyer Protection All of my listings display the PayPal Buyer Protection icon to qualify for up to $1000.00 of protection for you, the buyer.