The Mystery of Cloomber is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is narrated by John Fothergill West, a Scottish man who has moved with his family from Edinburgh to Wigtownshire to care for the estate of his father's half-brother, William Farintosh. Near their residence—Branksome—is Cloomber Hall, which for many years has not had a tenant. After a little while it is settled in by John Berthier Heatherstone, a retiree from the British Indian Army. General Heatherstone is nervous to the point of being paranoid. As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that his fears are connected with some people in India whom he has offended somehow. People hear a strange sound, like the tolling of a bell, in his presence, which seems to cause general great discomfort. Every year his paranoia reaches its climax around the October 5, after which his fears subside for a while.
What dark deed from the past haunts Major Heatherstone? Why does he live like a hermit at Cloomber Hall, forbidding his children to venture beyond the estate grounds? Why is he plagued by the sound of a tolling bell, and why does his paranoia rise to frantic levels each year on October 5? With the sudden appearance of three shipwrecked Buddhist monks, the answers to these questions follow close behind.
Arthur Conan Doyle's gothic thriller unfolds in his native Scotland, in a remote coastal village surrounded by dreary moors. The creator of "Sherlock Holmes" combines his skill at weaving tales of mystery with his deep fascination with spiritualism and the paranormal. First published in 1889, the novel offers a cautionary view of British colonialism in the form of a captivating story of murder and revenge.
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