Request #154

I’m looking for a YA mystery romance novel that I read in junior high in Canada, probably published in the late 1970s or early 1980s, possibly through Scholastic. I don’t remember the cover. The details in my mind are so vague: It was a female protagonist, 17 or 18, possibly first-person; I don’t recall her name. She was temporarily living in a house near a marsh/swamp/quicksand (no idea what country). She might have been there to take care of a senior man and the romance involves a great-nephew or grandson. It had a feminist bent, since she wanted to be referred to as “Ms” not “Miss”—but I believe she ended up engaged to the great-nephew or grandson at the end. Someone in the household had vanished years ago. A clue to the murderer’s identity had to do with a cape (or a rain poncho?); I think it was discovered in a knitting basket. The book cited lines from a Lewis Carroll poem: “‘You are old, Father William,’ the young man said…”

One thought on “Request #154”

  1. At long last, I’ve found the novel title I was looking for: The Girl Cried Murder or Murder, My Dear by Dorothy Woolfolk, 1974. (See https://cliqueypizza.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/windswept-the-girl-cried-murder-dorothy-woolfolk-a-feminist-gothic/ for the plot summary.) It appears to have been part of the Windswept series by Scholastic (1982-1984) and is described as a “feminist gothic.” The protagonist’s name is Melissa, the Victorian mansion is named Wildemere, and there are quicksand bogs on the estate grounds. I’m quite sure the copy my friend purchased here in Canada was published as Murder, My Dear. I was 13 or 14 when I read it. I can envision purchasing and reading another Windswept title which I associate with my Gr. 9 year in 1983. (Oh the good old days of Scholastic book order forms.)

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