The Secret of the Loch

by Frances Cowen

An old manse by a loch in the heart of Perthshire - Mary's spirits soar when she hears this is to be her new home. But Katrine Maclure's eager interest in her news surprises Mary. At school she scarcely knows the older girl. Her bewilderment grows when Katrine tells her that the Maclure family own the ancient castle five miles from Mary's new home but that she has been forbidden to go there since the unexpected death of her father. Katrine, loth to believe her father is really dead, begs Mary to invite her as a guest to the manse. What is the secret of the castle? What happened to Katrine's father and who is the man at the school gate who is to turn up again and again?
Mary and her brother are determined to protect Katrine. Against a background of Scottish scenery, events unfold and excitement mounts to reach a peak in the final unravelling of a very satisfying mystery story.
(Dustwrapper blurb from Children's Press 1965 edition)

My edition: Children's Press 1965 with dustwrapper
Advertised in a laminated edition on the back of 'The Abbey Girls at Home' by Elsie J Oxenham 1968 (and elsewhere)

Not known in a Seagull edition

Children's Press dustwrapper 1965