Touch Not the Cat

Name: Touch Not the Cat
Rating: 4.1 (13804 reviews)

by Mary Stewart

First published 1976

Amazon

4.1(13,804)

After her father is fatally injured in Bavaria, Bryony Ashley returns to the deteriorating family estate in the Malvern Hills carrying only his cryptic final warning. She has long shared a telepathic bond with an unidentified man she assumes must be one of her relatives, but the same family circle contains people eager to control the estate and its remaining value.

Clues hidden in books, heraldry and the overgrown maze lead Bryony towards the truth about her inheritance and her unseen companion. The supernatural connection is woven into a recognisable post-war country-house crisis, where repair costs, tourism and development pressure give old family rivalries a modern motive.