The Four-Pools Mystery

Jean Webster, beloved for her optimistic novels about young women, slips into darker territory with this Southern Gothic mystery. Arnold Crosby, a young lawyer exhausted from a notorious forgery case, travels to Four-Pools Plantation to recuperate but finds no peace. The estate harbors a spectral figure, stolen bonds from a safe, and a family whose respectability masks dangerous secrets. Radnor Gaylord, the plantation heir with a reckless reputation, seems connected to every escalating mystery, pulling Arnold deeper into a world where the supernatural and the scandalous intertwine. What begins as a retreat becomes a test of integrity amid decaying Southern gentility. Webster proves herself a skilled plotter, weaving humor through tension while interrogating the differences between honor and hypocrisy. Readers who discovered her through lighter works will find this a fascinating departure: same sensitivity, sharper teeth.