A disturbing novella set in Venice which cleverly combines detective and ghost story genre. This edition is based on the most authoritative text and contains notes and extra material for students.

An enigmatic countess is tormented by a dark secret. An English aristocrat, Lord Montbarry, falls ill and dies in a decaying Venetian palazzo. An Italian servant disappears, and his wife receives a note containing one thousand pounds.

With the palazzo now transformed into a luxury hotel, and the late Lord Montbarry's family in residence, these strands begin to come together, yet strange and macabre events are occurring, and the dead seem unable to rest.

Wilkie Collins is the finest practitioner of the novel of sensation.