Huntingtower

Published in 1922, Huntingtower is the first of John Buchan’s novels to feature Dickson McCunn. McCunn, recently retired, embarks upon a walking tour of southwestern Scotland and encounters a poet and former soldier on his travels. They spend the evening in a small village, and when they investigate a large empty house nearby, they hear a woman singing from within. McCann’s companion recognizes the woman’s voice as belonging to a Russian princess he had worshiped from afar when he was stationed in Europe. A gang of street-urchins inform the pair that the princess and her companion are held prisoner, and all agree to join forces and effect a rescue. The book was made into a silent movie in 1928, and has also been adapted for radio.