The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery

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The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery

By: Catherine Bailey

Narrated by: Stephen Rashbrook

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About this listen

In April 1940, the ninth Duke of Rutland died in mysterious circumstances in one of the rooms of his family estate, Belvoir Castle. The mystery surrounding these rooms holds the key to a tragic story that is played out on the brutal battlefields of the Western Front and in the exclusive salons of Mayfair and Belgravia in the dying years of la belle époque. Uncovered is a dark and disturbing period in the history of the Rutland family, and one which they were determined to keep hidden for over 60 years. Sixty years on, The Secret Rooms is the true story of family secrets and one man’s determination to keep the past hidden at any cost.

Catherine BaileyStephen RashbrookAudible Studios

20th Century

Modern

Inspiring

Scary

20th Century Modern Inspiring Scary

Critic reviews

"Reads like the best kind of mystery story. It is a tale of mistresses and heirlooms, cowardice and connivance, and a deeply dysfunctional family...gripping." ( Sunday Times)

"Astonishing...jaw-dropping...It would spoil the book if I revealed the whole works, suffice it to say...what a family." ( Sunday Telegraph)

Most relevant

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The first half of the book is intended to sound like a mystery thriller, the intrepid search for the truth behind certain gaps in the record left behind by John, the 9th Duke of Rutland. Catherine Bailey does not succeed in making it sound anything more than an expose of how tedious it can be to research a novel. Nevertheless, the second half of the novel is given more to the subject of the book than her own investigations and here the book becomes interesting. If the book had been written as a biography of this Duke instead of trying to make the writer sound like a rather boring character in a spy novel I think the pace of the book would have been much faster and the general impression less irritating.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The descriptions of life at the front with the gruesome casualty records make for mind-boggling reading even though the scale of killing in the Second World War is obviously even more horrific.

Could you see The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

If the writers left out the part played by Catherine Bailey and stuck to the history of the family I think this would make for a reasonable costume drama.