Evelyn Berckman (1900–1978)

AUTHOR: Berckman, Evelyn
TITLE: The Evil of Time
DATE READ: 08/13/14
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS Gothic /1954/Dodd Mead & co./ 159 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: SA
TIME/PLACE: 1950's/ Germany
CHARACTERS: Keith Elgin/Asst Curator
FIRST LINES: " The inscription on the ancient strip of brass was slowly revealing itself. "
COMMENTS: This is one of those old Gothic books, it was more suspense focused than romance. The young woman featured was an asst curator to a Museum in Germany. This was the 1st time for me seeing the name Keith used for a female, and in the beginning I kept having to remind myself of that. She was very career focused and jumped at the opportunity to go to Dragonsgrab (Dragon's Grave) and old castle set in the marshlands of South Germany. This old castle was in a remote area inhabited by 2 sisters, Luise & Maria -- one was paralyzed and rarely seen (Maria) and Luise was a very crotchety unwelcoming woman. Keith's mission was to see if she could find the hidden treasures that others were unable to find. There is believed to be Art that was taken by the Hitler regime and hidden away. One piece a minor Rembrandt and another a golden cup. These pieces are of significance but the interest that was shown by various groups led her to believe that something else was also hidden along w/ the Art. Overall, a good layered story focusing on WWII, an old castle, mysterious sightings and also hearings going on at Dragonsgrab, and several former attempts for the treasure had been thwarted -- the most recent by a fatal accident. There are two men that are of interest in Keith's life but romance was a minor angle…at least until the very end. This was an older book I had on my shelf & really surpassed my expectations. I did grow up reading a lot of the gothic type novels written by Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney & others and still carry a nostalgic fondness for these types of books. I have never heard of Evelyn Berckman before so this was a new to me author. There was one comment made re: the German people that I thought was dated/politically incorrect but otherwise it stood the stand of time.… (meer)