Colouring Books Gallery Two: Killing Violets, Ivoria, The Sky-Green Blues

The second volume of the reprint of Tanith Lee’s Colouring Book Series in omnibus form, a set of psychological thrillers, with occasional touches of the supernatural. This book includes: 

Killing Violets 1934... Starving to death somewhere in Europe, Anna meets Raoul, who takes her to England and the dubious mansion of his arrogant and unsavoury relatives, the Basultes. Anna is a survivor. Both the aristocratic malignities, and the Hogarthian orgies of the servants, can be accommodated, if they must. Anna has a past as savage and explicit as anything seen in the Basulte house.

Ivoria Nick Lewis certainly has no liking for his TV historian brother, Laurence. Aside from anything else Nick blames him for the death of their mother, the beautiful actress Claudia Martin. And so, is it possible the off-handedly childish trick played by Nick on Laurence really does cast some kind of curse? This is probably not a supernatural story. It might be less unsettling if it was.

Also included is the short story, The Sky-Green Blues, which appeared in Interzone magazine in 1999.