Claudette Nicole is actually Trailsman creator, Jon Messman. Jon Messman was responsible for many action and Men’s Adventure series like the Revenger, inspired by the Executioner boom, and several entries in the Nick Carter Killmaster series. He had a two-part series inspired by the Travis McGee series called Logan. Many standalones in the crime, espionage and action-adventure genres, plus he wrote most of the first 200 books in the adult western Trailsman series. He wrote nine gothic mysteries under the name Claudette Nicole. Dark Mill was his fifth and was first published as a paperback original in 1972 by Fawcett Gold Medal.
Video review here. Written review below.
The basic premise: Valery Curtis is a compassionate nurse who cares for an rich old lady, named Carlotta Van Dyne, in the hospital. Carlotta is enamored with the thoughtful nature of Valery and offers her a job watching her granddaughter for two months in her remote Maine chateau. The pay is $3000 plus all expenses paid. Valery is in a mental slump and this seems like the perfect way to change her environment and revitalize her life.
When she arrives at the estate with the mysterious name of Verdelet no one is there but the gaunt Lurch-like caretaker/servant Labat. She waits for a month and just when she is about ready to leave the little girl Tansy appears. Tansy immediately asks to go down to the old mill. While walking around the dilapidated structure Valery falls through a rotten board and slips underneath to the now spinning water mill. After narrowly being crushed to death she eventually shimmies her way out, getting knocked out in the process.
She awakes in her bed to a handsome man standing over her. He is the little girl’s uncle, Bob Van Dyne. He’s charming, boisterous, outgoing, confident and he wants a piece of Valery’s sugar pie. Valery is not against the prospect.
Also, there is his friend and coworker Glen Perry. He is quiet and sheepish. Submissive to Bob’s every command. The lack of back-bone bothers Valery. What a waste of a handsome man, she thinks.
The little girl, Tansy isn’t bothered in the slightest by this near-death accident of her new babysitter. She almost seems bored by it. She is a smart mouthed little brat whose soul purpose is to belittle Valery psychologically. She is described as looking like Shirley Temple with bouncing blonde curls and little kewpie dresses. You’re going to hate this girl.
As Valery gets to know these new people she is also informed another uncle will be showing up. A Brother Martin Van Dyne, a monk who left the official church but not the cloth. This guy sits around smiling while constantly spewing nihilistic philosophies on the inherent desire to kill inside humans and how there is nothing wrong with it. He strangely seems to not believe in good or evil so therefore any travesty a person commits is in the laws of nature. Valery is not a fan of his philosophies or his company.
Like most gothic mysteries the mystery is often whether the odd things that are happening are real or all in the main character’s head. Is there a conspiracy against her? Who can she trust?
The mystery in the Dark Mill is who is this strange aristocratic family and what are their dark secrets? Was Valery really hired to care for this little girl is there something more sinister at work?
Gaslighting is a huge part of most of the gothics I have read and this one is no different. The little girl is a sadist whose torment of Valery escalates as the plot progresses. By the end Valery is in a tight spot and has to make some serious decisions that go against her own moral character. It makes me wonder what exactly Messman was trying to say here about the murderous nature hiding in every one of us and what it takes for it to come out. And when it does, is it even necessarily a bad thing?
Maybe I’m reading too much into it but the book is filled with such philosophies emitting from the mouth of the questionable monk.
Either way, this was a wonderful conspiracy mystery peppered with all the gothic flavor. Here’s a little taste. All from the first paragraph:
Cavernous old house. Afternoon turned grey. Chill wind. Her tall willowy body. An echo of the cattails. Violet eyes. Jet black hair. The wind stabbed at her again. Strange place. Hollow of land. Beauty here was an ominous thing, at once frightening and compelling.
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