<DIV><BR> <p>"An absolute treat, deliciously ludic, to be read with a big smile on your face throughout."—Nicholas Lezard, <I>Guardian</I></P> <div>AT THE END-OF-LONDON-SEASON soiree, the young Hungarian scholar-dilettante Janos Batky is introduced to the Earl of Gwynedd, a reclusive eccentric who is the subject of strange rumours. Invited to the family seat, Pendragon Castle in North Wales, Batky receives a mysterious phone-call warning him not to go. But he does, and finds himself in a bizarre world of mysticism and romance, animal experimentation, and planned murder. His quest to solve the central mystery takes him down strange byways-old libraries and warehouse cellars, Welsh mountains and underground tombs.</div></DIV>