Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day.

The Silver Mask is a multilayered tale of an elderly lady who falls victim to an insidious but dreadfully attractive confidence trickster. Like a fly trapped in a spiderweb, she cannot extricate herself from the clutches of this gorgeously wicked man...and he is so very attractive...so very, dreadfully attractive....