02881cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003701000130007804000110009104100170010205000070011910000370012624500230016326400510018630000470023733600260028433700260031033800360033650000310037250801840040352016400058753400620222765300340228965300320232365300240235565300230237985600550240285600430245799900190250077022UtSlPG20260610134802.0mcr n260607r20251924utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  a24010303  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aChichester, John Jay,d1889-195014aThe porcelain mask 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2025  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2025-10-10  aTim Miller, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)  a"The porcelain mask :  A detective story" by John Jay Chichester is a detective novel written in the early 20th century. Set around a Hudson River estate called Greenacres, it centers on novelist Kirklan Gilmore, his beautiful new wife Helen, and his devoted stepsister Joan Sheridan, whose homecoming collides with a sudden marriage and a rash of secrets. When an intense illustrator, Victor Sarbella, arrives and clearly recognizes Helen, and a menacing figure from Helen’s past resurfaces, the domestic idyll turns ominous. The story promises a blend of romantic tension, blackmail, and crime that entangles family loyalty and hidden identities.  The opening of the novel follows Joan’s unexpected return to Greenacres and her shock at discovering that Kirk has married Helen, who has claimed Joan’s cherished room and unsettled the household. Kirk goes to New York to placate his publisher while Helen secretly slips into the city to meet Don Haskins, a criminal who reveals himself as her first husband and blackmails her for a thousand dollars to fund his escape after a fatal job. Atchinson later thinks he sees Helen entering a seedy lodging house, fueling Kirk’s suspicions; that night, Victor Sarbella arrives and his charged, mutual recognition with Helen poisons an already strained dinner. Kirk confronts Victor in the studio, demanding answers about Helen’s past, but gets only denials and a promise to discuss work tomorrow, as the parallel thread closes with Detective Sergeant Tish trailing “Eighth Avenue Annie” back to her hideout, poised to catch Haskins. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cNew York City: Chelsea House, 1924  aDetective and mystery stories  aNew York (State) -- Fiction  aFamilies -- Fiction  aSpouses -- Fiction4 uhttps://archive.org/details/porcelainmaskade00chic40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77022  c117746d117746