So, thought Mike, if a tree crashes down in Durie Forest with only servants in earshot, does it make any sound? No, it does not.

Working my way through the works of Stanley Ellin, my new enthusiasm, I come to Very Old Money, a rather odd book that’s kind of an Upstairs, Downstairs comedy (or tragedy) of manners, though a murder is involved.

Mike and Amy Lloyd are our main characters; Amy is actually the center of the story. When they lose their jobs teaching at a posh private school, a friend refers them to a placement service that recruits servants for the very rich. The job Mike and Amy get is a strange and challenging one – they are to work for the Durie family, who are “very old money.” The Duries’ wealth goes back to colonial times. To the Duries, the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers are nouveau riche. The Duries do nothing ostentatious. They live in a vast mansion off Fifth Avenue, but they keep out of sight and out of the newspapers.

Mike is to be their chauffeur. Amy is to serve as assistant to the chief housekeeper, and also as a companion to Miss Margaret, the family’s honorary matriarch, who went blind during her youth, when she was a famous beauty and an aspiring painter. Miss Margaret lived in bitter retirement until just recently, when she suddenly took new interest in life. She asked that a companion be hired for her, specifying that the woman must be very tall – which Amy, conveniently, is.

They soon find themselves embroiled in intramural intrigue. The housekeeper instructs Amy to report to her everything Miss Margaret does, while Miss Margaret insists that she tell no one about her secret visits to a hotel, and the cash she regularly withdraws from her bank account. This places Mike and Amy in an increasingly untenable position, but that’s nothing to what’s going to happen when Miss Margaret brings her plans to a conclusion.

Very Old Money is an unusual crime novel, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. Ellin’s writing and characters are consistently superior. I was particularly impressed by the fact that I was sure I knew where the plot was headed, and was completely wrong (as well as somewhat shocked).

Not a book you’re likely to fall in love with, but well worth reading.