Lord Mullion's Secret by Michael Innes

This is a mystery but there is no murder so be prepared for a witty, well written mystery novel by Michael Innes who is a real master of the genre. When Henry Wyndowe and Charles Honeybath were young, they were friends at a private school.  But now that they are adults, Henry Wyndowe is Lord Mullion, and Charles Honeybath is an artist of some renown and a member of the Royal Academy. They had met a few times through the years, but his time Lord Mullion had come to Honeybath with a commission to paint a portrait of his wife, Mary. Lord Mullion invited Honeybath to come to his castle to do the painting, and Honeybath accepted.

Charles found that Mullion castle had been changed into a stately home, and that Lord Mullion had found it necessary to have guided tours of the home twice a week. Charles met the Wyndowe family which consisted of the charming wife Mary, son Cyprian who was not very ambitious, and daughters Patty, who was interested in gardening, and Boosie (real name Lucy) who was quite interested in politics. Then there was Great Aunt Camilla who was apparently losing some of her mental faculties as she aged. She had been very interested in becoming an artist when she was young, had traveled to study in Europe, and had met Monet. Some of her paintings were hanging in the Castle, but nobody was quite sure where. She was given to wandering the castle halls at odd times of the night. She was mainly visited by her minister, Dr. Atley, whose hobby was the history of the Mullions and the castle.

On his first evening, Charles Honeybath was taken to see the real artistic treasure of the Mullion family. In the library were three miniatures by Hilliard. (Note - Nicholas Hilliard, 1547 - 1619, was noted for the miniature portraits of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I). It was here that Honeybath found his mystery for two of the miniatures were probably by Hilliard, and one, undoubtedly was not. It seemed to be a photographic reproduction of one.

On the next day, Honeybath took a stroll through the castle gardens, Here he met an undergardener named  Swithin Gore who was a very bright and energetic young man. Swithin and Patty  seemed to be quite friendly, indeed so friendly that Patty had begun to wonder if marriage with a gardener could be possible. Honeybath also strolled the castle halls and found some watercolors by Aunt Camilla hanging in the hall which led to the kitchen. These raised questions about Camilla's stories of her youthful travels.

Here we have set the scene for the solution of the mystery of the Hilliard miniatures, and the location of Aunt Camilla's watercolors.  Other mysteries will arise in the course of the book, and all will be resolved in this literate and witty book.

Michael Innes was a university professor and and under his read name J. I. M. Stewart wrote both nonfiction and fiction. With the name of Michael Innes , he was best know for his inspector Appleby mysteries. He only wrote four of the Charles Honeybath mysteries, and I do wish that he had written more. Readers who want art in their mystery novels will enjoy this book.