A Haunting at Holkham Anne by Glenconner,
Hachette
Based on Glenconner’s childhood home Holkham Hall, Norfolk, with parents, the 5th Earl and Countess of Leicester. The only untruth in this magnificent mystery is a fake diamond necklace. 1950, Lady Anne is called back from her pottery door-to-door sales (piggy banks to encourage thrift in rationed times) when her grandfather dies falling down stairs (true, but not with a fake diamond necklace in his pocket, although Glenconner wore the Coke necklace at her wedding). 1943, nanny Miss Crane maltreats Anne, 11, the latter retreating to the hall’s secret passages. “I was left in the care of a sadistic governess … clever enough to hide her cruelty from the family,” reveals the author. Fascinating.