The Luck of the Vails
E. F. Benson is best-known for his wickedly funny tales of English village life, but here he shows himself a master of mystery and country-house crime

In a Holbein portrait above the grand old fireplace, Francis Vail, second baronet, brandishes a beautiful golden goblet, encrusted with pearls, rubies, and emeralds. But this treasure, the Luck of the Vails, has brought the family nothing but ruin and death. On the eve of his 21st birthday, when Harry Vail discovers the Luck hidden in the attic of his ancestral home, the family curse is reawoken, and a tale of madness, avarice, and murder unfolds.