Marian Babson ’s considerable output has gained her many devoted fans since she is a mistress of her genre. This subsection of crime fiction uses a humorous approach to a well-plotted and suspenseful tale. In this example, the story begins with Vanessa experiencing a serious accident which leaves her in a coma. Her devoted twin brother, alerted to the dangerous situation of his sister by that indefinable twin bond, decides to investigate what happened at the home of the reclusive millionaire where the fall happened. Conveniently Vance is a female impersonator so he actually pretends to be his sister whose unfortunate amnesia precludes her from remembering anything.
The sinister atmosphere through which the disguised Vance must feel his way is superbly conveyed - various denizens of the house approach the supposed Vanessa as her ‘best friends’ and her room is searched. Indeed the superior skills of Vanessa’s cat are regularly required to repel these rather anxious members of the millionaire’s retinue. Equally Vance’s unfamiliarity with cats in general and with this one in particular threatens his masquerade on several occasions. The atmosphere gets murkier and murkier as he strives to make sense of events around him and even Gloriana the cat finds herself threatened. It all spirals up to an exciting finale with all puzzles resolved.
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Jennifer S. Palmer
I think that Marian Babson’s oeuvre has reached 44 books and that many have been reprinted. They are mostly stand-alone titles but there are series characters that do recur - the actresses Trixie and Evangeline, Douglas Perkins the public relations officer and Annabel Hinchby-Smythe - and two reverse stories, A Trail of Ashes and Death Swap.