Wildfire at Midnight

First edition
(publ. Hodder & Stoughton)
Cover art by Eleanor Poore

Wildfire at Midnight is a novel by Mary Stewart which was first published in 1956.^[1] Stewart herself described the book as "an attempt at something different, the classic closed-room detective story with restricted action, a biggish cast, and a closely circular plot".^[2]

Synopsis

Fashion model Gianetta Brooke leaves her usual glamorous surroundings to go on holiday to the Scottish island of Skye, only to find that her ex-husband, writer Nicholas Drury, is staying at the same hotel in Camasunary.^[3] Set against the backdrop of recent events at the time of publication—the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the Hillary expedition that was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest—this romantic suspense novel now has a "bygone era" sense of time and place.

After a murders takes place locally, suspicion falls on the hotel guests, who include an aging "femme-fatale" star stage actress, a mountaineer, a possessive climber and her ingenue apprentice, a jealous wife and philandering husband, an old acquaintance of Gianetta's and Nicholas's, a writer of travel guides, and a handsome local versed in pagan folklore. Gianetta, above suspicion due to her more recent arrival at the hotel, finds herself divided when assisting the police, torn between old loyalties, new sympathies, and her civic duty.

Plot summary^[4]

In 1953 London, Gianetta Drury, a top fashion model, needs a break and wishes to get away from the crowds for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Gianetta’s father, a clergyman interested in religious folklore, suggests a hotel in the Scottish island of Skye. On the ferry to the hotel, Gianetta meets two local mountaineers, Rhodri MacDowell, the ferry operator, and the handsome Roderick Grant, both versed in pagan folklore. They discuss the awe-inspiring magnificence of the mountains, and the conversation turns to Blaven, the large mountain nearest to the hotel, but Gianetta senses that nobody wants to talk about it.

Upon arrival, Gianetta finds she is not the only celebrity at the hotel. Aging theatrical star, Marcia Maling, provides gossip on the rest of the guests. Ronald Beagle, noted mountaineer, keenly follows the progress of the Everest expedition on the radio. Alma Corrigan is the long-suffering wife of a philandering husband, Hartley Corrigan, who openly flirts with Marcia. The antagonistic Marion Bradford, and her young protoge, Roberta Symes, are teachers, come to climb (and, according to Marcia, possibly lovers). Gianetta recognizes the name of Alastair Braine, an old friend, there on a fishing holiday with the Corrigans. Finally, she hears of two writers, "Sorbo", one Hubert Hay, and a handsome mystery man, who only arrived the night before. He approaches the hotel, and Gianetta is put out at the discovery that he is her ex-husband, the dashing writer Nicholas Drury. She writes her maiden name in the guest book.

That evening, on a walk with Roderick, she learns that, before her arrival, local Heather Macrae was found ritually murdered, with throat cut, in the remains of a bonfire, with jewelry and shoes in a pile by her body, on Blaven. The hotel guests are the main suspects, particularly the men, since Heather had been meeting a secret boyfriend.

All this leaves Gianetta sleepless, and over the course of the night, she has 4 encounters: the first, Marcia and Nicholas, kissing; the second, a couple, whispering in the night; the third, a man, hurrying out of the hotel in the wee hours; and Alistair, returning from a fishing trip.

In the morning, Nicholas attempts to talk with Gianetta “about us,” but Gianetta rebuffs him, letting him know she saw him with Marcia.

Gianetta spends the day in a little amateur modeling for Hubert Hay, and Marion and Roberta fail to return from an ill-advised climbing excursion by nightfall. Anxieties rise when it is revealed they were seen by Dougal Macrae (Heather's father, and a very sensible man), with a third person. While the men go out searching for them, Marcia Maling finds a doll, made to look like the murdered girl, in her bed, and leaves the hotel.

The next morning, a more formal rescue team is organized. They find Marion’s body, with the safety rope securing her to deliberately cut. There is no sign of Roberta. On the way back to the hotel that evening, Gianetta spots a bonfire on Blaven and sees a dark figure skulking away. Ronald Beagle is laid out ritually, similar to Heather Macrae, with his throat cut. A man grabs her as she tries to pull the body from the pyre, and, in response to her scream, she hears a man call "Gianetta". In the morning, the inspector arrives to question the hotel guests about this development, and the search for Roberta continues. Gianetta finds her, unconscious, in a small cave on a ledge, with Roderick not far behind. Realizing that Roberta can name Marion’s killer—and likely Heather’s and Beagle’s—Gianetta refuses to leave Roberta’s side.

It is decided that Gianetta should spend the night with Roberta, guarded by police. When Nicholas corners Gianetta in the hallway, she relates her suspicions of him. He asks bitterly why she doesn’t turn him in to the police, and she leaves, flustered, with conflicted emotions.

Back in her room with the unconscious Roberta, Gianetta finds a book on ancient myths and folklore, The Golden Bough, with an envelope bookmarking a passage that describes a ritual human sacrifice - done the same way the Heather Macrae was killed. The envelope is addressed, in her father's hand, to Nicholas. Someone tries to open the locked door to the bedroom where Gianetta and Roberta are sleeping, but retreats when Gianetta calls for help. Roberta remains unconscious.

The nurse arrives to care for Roberta in the morning, giving the inspector a chance to question Gianetta. She, now convinced of Nicholas' guilt, is tortured at the prospect of revealing him, and gives the inspector the book, but hides the letter she found, that reveals the owner of the book. He probes further, sensing she's hiding something, and she balks.

On a pre-arranged fishing trip, with Dougal Macrae, she discovers that a brooch she found on the mountain, which she'd thought was Roberta's, belonged to Heather Macrae. As a mist descends on them, and Gianetta, feeling uneasy, asks that they go back, so she can give the brooch to the inspector, and give him the envelope, which proves that The Golden Bough belongs to Nicholas. Dougal goes to get the fishing rods, and is attacked. Gianetta, panicked, runs, into a bog. She's lost there, in the mist, when she hears a voice softly calling, "Gianetta", and she realizes without a doubt, that the murderer, looking for her in the fog, is Nicholas, as he's the only one who calls her by her full name.

She manages to avoid him, and breaks out of the fog.

She runs into Roderick. She realizes he'd told her about Heather Macrae's brooch, even though the police hadn't found it, which meant he must have been the one who killed Heather. She has this realization aloud, and Roderick sighs, and says that he hoped she wouldn't remember, so he wouldn't have to kill her. He chases a fleeing Gianetta up the mountain as he rants insanely against the irreverence of climbers who presume to “conquer” nature. Gianetta manages to fend him off until help; Nicholas, Dougal, and the police, arrive.

They chase Roderick into the fog, and he is apprehended. Nicholas tells her Roderick's family history, uncovered by the police; both his Father and Grandmother died in asylums, and recounts how Roderick had become quite docile, and almost childlike, when he'd been hit.

He apologizes, and tells her he'd told the police that she was in love with Roderick, and she realizes that's why everyone was being so weird and pitying towards her, not because Nicholas had been the killer, as she'd thought, but because they thought she was in love with Roderick, who they all thought was the killer.

Nicholas had shown the police the passages in the Golden Bough and Roderick became the police’s prime suspect. Nicholas had not denied being the killer, when she'd accused him, because he was jealous of Roderick. He admits that her parents helped him get her up to Skye, so that he could talk to her. He apologizes for all of the horrible things he's said and done to her, and tells her he loves her, and that he regrets ever letting her go. They acknowledge their lingering feelings for each other and reconcile.

Background and analysis

The mystery component blends 1953 news events with mountaineering, druid mythology and pagan ritual, along with conflicting views about the conquering of nature: heroic progress or human arrogance? Stewart was familiar with the Isle of Skye, which she had visited with her husband on tours of Scotland.^[5]

Adaptation

In 1974, it was adapted by Stewart Hunter as part of the long-running Saturday Night Theatre series on BBC Radio 4.^[6] It aired at 20:30 on the 25th of May, 1974, and starred Ursula Smith as Gianetta Brooke and Stephen MacDonald as Roderick Grant.

References

1. Mary Stewart novels
2. "Teller of Tales" (The Writer, Volume 83, No. 5, May 1970
3. The Romantic Armchair Traveller
4. Stewart, Mary (1981) [1956]. Wildfire at Midnight. New York: MSMillCompany. pp. 3–214. ISBN 9781613744468.
5. Friedman, Lenemaja (1990). Mary Stewart. Boston: Twayne Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 9780805769852.
6. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 25 May 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2024.