When actress Lucy Waring’s play folds in London and she finds herself
at loose ends, she joins her sister Phyllida
at the Villa Forli on the
island of Corfu, expecting a quiet pre-Easter holiday of sun and
swimming. Instead, she finds herself in the middle of murder.
The first indication that something is wrong occurs when she is
swimming and someone starts shooting at the dolphin who comes in to
play. Then Spiro, the son of Phyllida’s housekeeper, is lost at
sea while working as photographer’s assistant to Godrey Manning, a
nearby tenant. It also soon becomes evident that something is
amiss at the Castello, where celebrated actor Sir Julian Gale and his
musician son Max are resident. Max aggressively discourages
visitors and the gardener, Adoni, is employed to keep trespassers away,
forcibly if necessary. When Lucy finds the body of a local
smuggler among the rocks and catches Max Gale out in a lie
concerning when he last saw him, Lucy is certain that Max is up to no good.
What is Max doing, Lucy wants to know? Why and how did the
smuggler die? What is wrong with Sir Julian Gale? Who shot
at the dolphin? Why hasn’t Spiro’s body been found?
Lucy finds the
answers to all these questions when the dolphin is
beached one night and she again comes to its rescue. However,
they are not the answers she expected, and in light of what she learns
she is drawn directly into grave danger. What else could she
expect when she keeps company with a murderer?
Mary Stewart skillfully weaves into her story local legends concerning
dolphins and sailors, Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, and the island’s
patron saint Spiridion. Romance, Corfiote customs, and family
relationships also contribute to the richness of the plot. The
result is a highly entertaining tale which keeps the reader guessing to
the end.