It's 1946, and London lawyer Caldecott is at a loose end, his city office having been bombed out in the blitz. His fortunes change when he meets charming Duke Allingford in need of a notary - and with a special request, when he finds out Caldecott once flew transport planes in Asia. Would he travel to Herefordshire to pick up his 18-year-old ward, the young Miss Glorita Fresham, from her convent school? The girl shouldn't travel alone, and for £50 Caldecott is happy to do it.
Gloria is lovely, and they all dine at the Allingford townhouse, where he is proposed another adventure: fly them on another trip in the morning. Merely a 7 hour flight, for a few days, destination unknown, clothing and £1000 provided. Caldecott agrees and is told strictly not to communicate to anyone about it. They secretly fly out of a disused airstrip on Allingford's private manor house, in the direction of the Mediterranean, and a small island called Calianthos.
After a rough landing, Allingford introduces him to 'Madame', an mysterious elderly lady living in a private wing of the home, reclined on a bed of pillows swathed in her silk robes. She is interested that Caldecott was born in China, she too has lived in China. They speak of ancient Eastern ways, but he has no idea who she is.
It is the time of the Island Festival, a pagan night in the woods where moonlight ceases and dark shadows begin. Glorita appears as if in a trance, and is lead to the temple altar past naked men and women chanting, dancing - disembodied screams crying out in the darkness.
If this was not enough, we are only at the halfway point of the novel and the beginning of the real adventure. Caldecott finds they have no intention he leave the island. The scuttled plane will never fly again. There is a scheme of world domination unfolding, overthrowing the Western way of life. Allingford is at the nucleus of the new world order, a new master race.
But... Caldecott discovers there is someone hidden in the island caves, who vows to stop them in their tracks.
This was an A+ adventure. Meynell has dense plots which engage the reader, while still offering thrills. This was the novel that started me reading Meynell, with its unusual chapter titles such as: I am sent on an errand, I lie in the sun, I attend a ceremony, and I learn an unpleasant truth. Caldecott has an interesting backstory in Asia, enough smarts to piece together the puzzle, and the guts to fight.
Strange Landing is an enjoyable mystery thriller, something different, and recommended as a solid adventure.
My other reviews for Laurence Meynell:
1946 / Paperback / 192 pages
I don't enjoy books dealing with world domination but your enthusiasm and the fact that it is Meynell make me want to search for it.
Neeru