Lud-In-The-Mist

First published in 1926, 'Lud-In-The-Mist' is a fiction novel and significant masterpiece by Hope Mirrlees, a British poet, novelist, and translator. It is the third and last novel of Mirrlees s. Lud-in-the-mist is in effect a magical murder mystery, complete with hints, detectives, and courtroom drama. It is also the story of an estranged father and son, a man estranged from himself, and a people estranged from their history. When the town of Lud severs its ties to a Fairyland, illegal trade in fairy fruit develops. But eating the fruit has horrible and wondrous effects. When Duke Aubrey's son Ranulph is thought to have eaten fairy fruit, Nathaniel Chanticleer, the mayor of Lud-in-the-Mist, finds himself looking into old mysteries in order to save his son and the people of his city.