The porcelain mask

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

77022

Title

The porcelain mask

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In this 1924 detective mystery, a returning sister discovers her beloved brother has married a mysterious woman and moved her into her cherished room. When the wife is found dead, suspicion falls on the artist friend and a criminal associate. Through a web of blackmail, jealousy, and a cleverly staged suicide, the truth emerges in a tale of accidental tragedy and redemption.

Summary up to 500 words

In John Jay Chichester's *The Porcelain Mask*, the narrative begins with Joan Sheridan's return to her family estate, Greenacres, only to discover her brother, Kirklan Gilmore, has married Helen Banton and moved her belongings from her cherished room. Heartbroken and feeling displaced, Joan suspects her brother has made a terrible mistake. Tensions escalate when Helen disappears to a squalid lodging house in New York, where she is blackmailed by a former associate, Don Haskins. Upon Helen's discovery and death, suspicion immediately falls on Victor Sarbella, the artist Kirklan hired to illustrate his novel, and Haskins. Sergeant Tish and reporter Wiggly Price investigate the case, uncovering Haskins' involvement and a connection to the murder weapon. As the inquiry deepens, it becomes evident that Sarbella is innocent, yet the true circumstances of Helen's death remain obscured. In a dramatic courtroom revelation, Kirklan Gilmore confesses to the shooting. He explains that, consumed by jealousy and panic over Helen's secret affair with Haskins, he accidentally killed her during a violent struggle over the gun. Seeking to avoid prison, Kirklan stages the scene to appear as a suicide using a porcelain vase filled with gunpowder and candle tallow. However, Joan reveals that Helen was actually alive when she screamed, dying shortly after the accidental discharge. The vase's explosion followed her death. The novel concludes with the jury accepting the verdict of accidental death, sparing Kirklan from prison, though the emotional toll on the family remains profound. The story explores themes of jealousy, the consequences of hasty marriage, and the lengths to which guilt will drive a man to deceive the world.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction
• Mystery