• Mystery of the Manor – Mandy Picture Story Library : #36 [1981]
• Reprinted as Nightmare!– Mandy Picture Story Library : #217 [1995]
• Art: David Matysiak

Plot

In 1910, Mary Smith was hired a parlour maid for the wealthy Harleigh family in Devon. Travelling on her way to the manor she meets a man, Mr Nolan, a specialist from London, who is also on the way there with most urgency, as the daughter of the manor, Lucy Harleigh, is critically ill. When they arrive Mr Nolan goes to examine Lucy while Mary is greeted by Mrs Green, who tells her sadly that Lucy has been declining and there is little hope for recovery. A few days later Mary meets Lucy who is confined to bed and is too weak to open her eyes. If that wasn’t enough to make the household anxious, one night the house is burgled, one of the maids, Ann catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure escaping in the garden. It is suspected that he was Richard Blake, a local farm-hand, and that he is responsible for other break-ins in the neighbourhood too.

The next day Mary is cleaning Lucy’s room and is surprised when Lucy wakes and asks for her help. She explains though her parents do not know, she had met and fell in love with Richard before she became ill, she heard about the burglary and does not believe Richard could be responsible. She asks Mary to write a secret note and deliver it to Richard, Mary does not have the heart to refuse a girl’s dying wish. When Mary goes to Richard’s house to deliver the note, she is surprised by the police being there. They have found one of the stolen items in the cottage and seize Lucy’s note as well. The Harleigh’s appear shocked at the news but not wanting to upset Lucy they ask Mary to tell her the note was delivered safely.

Mr Nolan who has been staying in the manor during this time must now return to London for a few days. Mary after being out running errands is taken aback to see him clambering up a cliff side with his suitcase before vanishing. She waits for him to re-emerge and follows him to the train station, taking an opportunity she checks his suitcase and finds it is lighter then when she handed it to him at the manor. That night Mary goes back to the cliff to investigate, she suspects Mr Nolan is hiding stolen goods in a cave. She finds the cave but before she can look further she is attacked and pushed off the cliff. She manages to save herself by grabbing on to branch. Mary did not see her attacker well, but he was smaller than Mr Nolan, she begins to think it could be Richard, working together with him, which would break Lucy’s heart.

She is struggling to decide what to do next when the next morning the Harleigh’s tell her with little hope for Lucy, they must reduce staff and she is being let go. Mary is somewhat relieved and will leave the investigation to the police. She leaves and at the train station she meets the police inspector, she does not yet want to tell them her Richard suspicions while Lucy still lives, but agrees to return to the manor when he asks that she stay close by in case she can help later. Waiting out the rain, Mary returns later to the manor unseen. She goes to say goodbye to Lucy before she plans to tell the Harleigh’s everything she knows. She is surprised to see the bed empty and even more surprised when Lucy appears and attacks her!

The Harleigh’s arrive on the scene and plan to get rid of her before she can talk. Mary manages to escape, realising the Harleigh’s and Mr Nolan were all working together, Lucy was the burglar and the one who attacked her, no one would suspect a dying girl, and they set Richard up to take the blame. She manages to make it to police and tell them what she knows, and also she has a realisation that Mr Nolan’s suitcase was heavy visiting the cave because she suspects they have imprisoned Richard there and he was bringing him food. The police do find Richard tied up in the cave and the Harleighs flee, while the police also find stolen items in the cellar. A couple of days later, the Harleighs are caught trying to escape the country. Mary gets a reward and job offer at one of the other houses and a grateful Richard is happy that she will be staying around.

Notes

This is a good mystery story, the Harleigh’s all seem pleasant, so one might suspect Mr Nolan might be making Lucy ill so he could carry out his crimes, so it is a twist to have the dying girl be the ringleader. Quite a scheme as well to pretend to be in love with the falsely accused. There are some things that are left to the reader to assume though. The Harleighs and Mr Nolan seem to be quite the experienced gang, so wonder how many times have they bought a manor pretending to be respectable family then burgling those around them, then do they move on after their daughter’s “death” and start the same scheme over again?

Mary is brave, loyal and kind, she feels much sympathy for Lucy which motivates a lot her actions, such as bringing the letter to Richard’s house and not telling the police her suspicions about Mr Nolan and Richard. She would have saved herself some trouble if she had let them know about the cave and the attempt on her life! If she hadn’t met the inspector at the train station she would have left, hoping the police would figure out themselves, which may never have happened. Poor Richard would have had a different fate, while they were keeping him alive for the moment, one can only assume he would have met an “accident” when the gang were ready to depart. Still she does these things to help Lucy and does show bravery for trying to figure things out and when escaping the Harleighs.

David Matysiak’s art is perfect for the story and the front cover is gorgeous. Interesting in the reprint they flipped the picture, so she faces the other way, it seems brighter and also the new title cuts across the picture more (Issue 36 cover for comparison). The sickly Lucy does look frail, though in this case looks are deceptive! The time period is also one less common, rather than the Victorian era, having early 1900s makes a nice change, with some attractive clothes styles and imposing manor while still in time where cars are becoming more common. There are his usual atmospheric touches as well as some exciting action scenes, at the cave and later when Mary is trying to escape the Harleighs.