
THE VANISHING OF BETTY VARIAN
CHAPTER I Headland Harbor
CHAPTER II Betty Varian
CHAPTER III The Tragedy
CHAPTER IV The Search
CHAPTER V The Yellow Pillow
CHAPTER VI The Varian Pearls
CHAPTER VII Minna Varian
CHAPTER VIII Ransom
CHAPTER IX Poor Martha
In the breezy summer enclave of Headland Harbor, a rag‑tag community of artists, anglers and genteel vacationers gathers beneath the looming cliffs of Maine’s rugged coast. The town’s modest clubhouse, its verandah crowded with locals waiting for the ever‑late mail, buzzes with witty banter about the striking, almost surreal landscape that surrounds them. Here, wealth and talent are measured modestly, and the rhythm of life is set by the tide, the wind, and the occasional storm that scrapes the black‑rocked cliffs. The atmosphere is both picturesque and slightly uncanny, a perfect backdrop for stories that linger just beneath the surface.
When beloved resident Betty Varian disappears without a trace, the close‑knit circle that prides itself on camaraderie and intellect is thrown into disarray. Old friendships are tested, hidden rivalries surface, and the very character of the harbor—its beauty and its danger—becomes a puzzle the townsfolk must solve. As the summer days lengthen, listeners are drawn into a gentle yet compelling mystery, feeling the salty air and the echo of whispered conjectures with every turn.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (346K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Mardi Desjardins, Stephen Hutcheson and the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net
Release date
Jun 7, 2014
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1862–1942
A remarkably versatile writer, Carolyn Wells moved effortlessly from witty verse and children’s books to the country-house and detective mysteries that made her famous. Her lively imagination produced more than 170 books, including the enduring Fleming Stone mysteries and the influential study The Technique of the Mystery Story.
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