Allison Blue is living in New York working as a commercial artist when she receives a letter from her grandmother, Bunny Blue, in Key West, Florida. Gram is about to sell her historic home, Allamanda House, and is asking Allison to come to Florida and help her pack. Allison is eager to make the trip as both her parents are diplomats and live in other countries and Allison wants to be close to some family. Not only does Allison make the trip but she arranges for her work to transfer her to their Miami office permanently so she can remain close to her grandmother.
Once in Key West Allison learns that her grandmother has taken in four boarders; Vondetta, an 18-year-old waitress. Jason, a high school teacher. Ryan, a popular boat captain. and Gilda, an old friend of Grams.
Not long after arriving Allison finds herself in danger. A threatening message is written on her mirror in soap, all the lightbulbs are unscrewed in her room, and a sketch Ryan made of her is torn and impaled on a thorn bush. Not knowing who is responsible for all these things Allison buys a bolt for her door and is suspicious of everyone. Soon Allison's suspicions of Jason wane as the two begin to go on dates and get romantic but this causes her suspicion of Vondetta to grow as Vondetta had made it clear she had her sights on Jason.
When Gilda, who is a sponge fisher, invites Allison to join her for a day of sponging Allison agrees before realizing that this could be trap to lure her alone out to sea. However danger befalls not Allison but Gilda instead. While using a fishing spear Gilda slips and punctures an artery in her leg. Allison has to apply a tourniquet and row back to shore while performing first aid on the unconscious Gilda. After receiving medical attention at the hospital Gilda confesses to Allison that it was her that wrote the message on her mirror as well as the other incidents. She did it in the hope that if Allison doesn't help Bunny move then Bunny wont move at all and therefor Gilda wont have to find another place to live.
When Allison finds Gram crying in the garden she learns that Gram doesn't want to sell Allamanda House but cannot afford to keep it due to three of the boarders never paying their rent. Gram is a "marshmallow" as they call her. She is too soft and gentle with people to demand the rent that is due her. Allison decides that she will speak up for her grandmother and makes the announcement at the dinner table that everyone will have to pay up or get out. Gilda and Ryan pay their share with no animosity but Vondetta is mad and insists it's not fair. Jason is mad too but for other reasons. Jason is the one boarder who always pays his rent but he had planned to purchase Allamanda House from Bunny and is upset by the change in plans.
Gram is part of a group that volunteers at a local museum that is based in an old citadel. She brings her boarders with her to help on her scheduled night, with Gram, Vondetta, and Gilda driving there in one car and Ryan, Jason, and Allison in another. When Allison finishes with her work early she decides to head to the top of the fortress tower and see the view. This requires climbing along a seemingly endless flight of narrow, circling, stone steps. At the top she sees Gram driving away in the darkness and soon Jason and Ryan follow.
Panicked at being left behind Allison begins to make her way back down the flight of stairs but the rail-less stairs are a deathtrap in the dark and Allison almost falls off the edge. After becoming frightened by the bugs and bats in the tower she scoots down the stairs on her bottom and remains sitting on the ground floor in the dark building hoping someone notices her disappearance soon.
After an unspecified amount of time Allison hears Jason calling for her. Did he come back to retrieve her or for some more sinister purpose? Allison begins to hide from him but when she hears Gram calling for her she knows they came to retrieve her. Jason and Gram say that they both assumed Allison had ridden home with the other and, although this is a plausible answer, she still has a worry that this was a petty prank by Jason to get even with her for Gram not selling Allamanda House.
With this suspicion still in her mind, and still suffering from uneasy nerves Gilda's pranks had caused, Allison asks her grandmother to accompany her in the garden while she works on a painting of Gram's orange tree in the moonlight. The two are enjoying the evening when the phone suddenly rings and Gram goes inside. Once alone Allison leans over to get a better angle on the tree and feels herself being pushed from behind. Unfortunately Allison is sitting next to an old, uncapped cistern and falls down it. The falls knocks her unconscious momentarily and when she wakes up and realizes where she is she begins to scream and doesn't stop until Gram and Ryan arrive. They lower a chair to her and with the help of Gilda they pull her up. Allison insists she leaned too far and fell over but she can tell Ryan doesn't believe her. Is it because he pushed her?
Despite her suspicions she accepts a date with Ryan. Since she is still recovering from her scrapes and bruises from the fall the date is a home cooked meal. Allison enjoys herself and Ryan's company but at the end of the night Ryan confesses to Allison that he feels she is in danger and for her not to trust Jason. Allison writes this off as jealousy. As it turns out Vondetta had been Ryan's sweetheart until she dumped him to chase after Jason. Could Ryan be jealous of Allison's feelings for Jason?
On the last day before Allison leaves for Miami Ryan arranges for her, him, and Gram to attend a play in the evening. However before then Jason offers to take Allison to the docks to paint a shrimp boat, something she stated she wanted to do. Jason works part time on a shrimp boat, it's currently in dry dock and the perfect scene for Allison's painting.
When they arrive at the docks Jason takes Allison onto the empty boat and shows her around. He lifts the hatch to the engine room below deck for her to peer in and as she leans over to do so he shoves her through. As Allison struggles to get to her feet after the fall Jason comes down the ladder, pure hatred showing in his face. He bounds and gags Allison while telling her his plan. In a few hours, after the docks have emptied of people, he'll come back with a gun and shoot her. Gram, devastated by her disappearance and then death, will be easy to manipulate into selling Allamanda House.
Jason is so desperate to get Allamanda House because for generations it had belonged to his family. His drunken, abusive father had lost it gambling and after passing hands several times Bunny had bought it. Jason wants to get the house and turn it into a showplace so he can show the world that he is better than his father.
After he leaves Allison is able to cut the ropes around her wrists with something on the wall but her ankles, which are also tied, cannot reach the same spot and her fingers cannot manage to undo the knots. Suddenly a cat brushes upon her and she ties her distinctive headscarf which she always wears around the cats tail, hoping the cat can get out and draw some attention. As she waits for something to happen Allison falls asleep but is awaken to the hatch opening. To her relief it is not Jason but Ryan.
Knowing Allison wouldn't stand him or her grandmother up Ryan went out looking for her. He guessed the docks because he knew she wanted to paint a shrimp boat before she left. Once at the docks he saw the cat with her scarf walking across the ships deck. Ryan cuts the ropes on her legs just as Jason returns with a gun and orders them both to come up. As they hesitate a police man arrives and askes to see Jason's work pass to make sure he is not trespassing. Ryan rushes up the latter and tells the police that Jason has a woman captive below. After as brief attempt to run Jason surrenders, Ryan confesses his love for Allison, and the two get engaged.
- The first thing I noted about this book when I started it was that it was trying very hard to be scarier than it was. When Allison finds the message on her mirror I rolled my eyes and thought "Vondetta is being childish". It seemed like a dumb prank but Allison acts like it's a horses head in her bed or something terrifying. That happens with a lot of Gilda's pranks, they're not that scary.
- The red herrings were too obvious. Vodetta tells Allison to stay away from Jason, then sees Allison leave on a date with Jason. When Allison returns home she finds the note on her mirror telling her to leave. Obviously anyone would assume the message was by Vondetta but for some reason Allison thinks it could have been Gilda which makes it clear it was Gilda.
I guess I don't have many notes for this book. It was a quick. enjoyable read. I really like these Avalon books from the 1970s because they are short and entertaining. They're perfect for reading a book in one sitting which I prefer to do.
