Treasure Hunt

From dust jacket flap:
When Sir Roderick Ryall died he left ten thousand each to his brother and widowed sister and a nice little nest-egg to each of the servants at Bally roden. The rest went to his son Philip. The only trouble was that in point of fact there was no money at all, anywhere, for any of them. Only the great house remained, with the roof falling in and the cellar empty. To Philip and his cousin Veronica Howard this was a challenge – to their elders no such thing. Uncle Hercules and Aunt Consuelo could not visualise a life of austerity and retrenchment and would certainly not try to. To them bankruptcy was a way of not paying bills, and they declared total irresponsible war against the penny-pushing schemes of the young. Only Aunt Anna Rose, who was batty anyway, sympathised. The struggle that ensued provides rich material for M. J. Farrell’s witty and sympathetic pen in a novel of high comedy and pathos.
Treasure Hunt was originally written as a play in collaboration with John Perry and ran for 310 performances in the West End with Sybil Thorndike in the role of Aunt Anna Rose.

Starts off slow and stage-like, but improves. Like most of Molly Keane's, darker than it first appears. Her usual unexpectedly beautiful turns of phrase. Features a strong sibling friendship.