THE HOUSE AT SANDALWOOD

Hawaiian gothic, which means that the jungle, redolent with sinister secrets and native superstitions, encroaches upon Sandalwood, home of Stephen and Deirdre, his childlike bride. Deirdre's young Aunt Judy, paroled from a few years in prison, accused of killing her niece's alcoholic mother, flies, drives, and boats in, at Stephen's summons. The question of what Deirdre knew hangs heavy in perfumed Sandalwood; and then there's the mysterious disappearance of a visiting ""friend"" in love with Stephen, and the death of a beautiful native gift. The father and fiance of the missing gift investigate -- and finally with Judy's aid -- the snake in the underbrush is smoked out, as well as Deirdre's subterranean guilts. Familiar furniture, well designed with palm fronds and wild orchids.