The Uninvited Guests

An English manor house in the middle of nowhere and in dire financial straits, a beautiful marriageable daughter, a brace of suitable suitors, a goofy little sister, a drip of a brother and a birthday party--Jones's The Uninvited Guests contains all the ingredients you need for several different concoctions.

Emerald, whose 20th birthday it is, and her brother, Clovis, a year older, cordially loathe their stepfather, Edward Swift, who is a perfectly nice man. He just isn't their beloved father, who had the bad form to die. Imogen, the nine-year-old sister called Smudge, wants an image of her pony on her bedroom wall. Getting Lady up the stairs to create this work of art was do-able, with only one odoriferous accident, but getting her down is quite another thing.

As festivities begin with a few of Emerald's friends in attendance, about 20 people make their way up the drive talking of a train wreck from which they have luckily escaped. The Railway is called to fetch them, but they feel no urgency and insist that Mrs. Swift feed and lodge the poor stragglers until the next day.

One more guest arrives a bit later: a man from Mrs. Swift's possibly salacious past. Was he really part of the railroad accident? What does he know about Charlotte Swift? Will there be a deus ex machina at the end that will save the day, the manse, the uninvited guests and the reputation of the lady of the house? --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Oregon

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