The White Prior — Fergus Hume

Gilbert Tresham is at low ebb. Alone in the world, with his hopes of becoming a professional author dashed by countless refusals, he accepts a post as tutor at The Priory -- the grand country seat of the Harley family, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of the former Prior. But when he gets there his suspicions are aroused by the strange behaviour of the house's motley inhabitants. Soon, he comes to suspect that the story of the ghostly 'White Prior' may be more than just a spurious legend and that its appearance portends a very real tragedy...

Fergus Hume's brooding mystery story draws on 18th century Gothic romance and Victorian sensation fiction to produce a heady mix of murder, deception and family secrets.