My Lady's Money

Wilkie Collins, the Victorian master who invented the detective novel, turns his analytical eye on the domestic sphere in this compact study of trust, greed, and concealment. When Lady Lydiard prepares to settle an uncomfortable obligation with a five hundred pound note, chaos erupts in her household: her beloved dog Tommie falls desperately ill, and in the ensuing pandemonium, the banknote disappears from her study. What follows is a graceful game of cat and mouse, as suspicion settles on everyone from the devoted butler to the resentful cousin, from the upwardly-mobile secretary to the mysterious lodger. Collins understands that the most dangerous crimes are not those committed in dark alleys, but those committed in well-lit drawing rooms, behind smiles and pleasantries. The missing note becomes a prism through which he examines the brittle architecture of class relations, the secret resentments that fester beneath servants' livery, and the terrible calculations people make when money intersects with love and loyalty. A novel about what goes missing not just from wallets, but from hearts.