Scandalous

There's nothing much to hold the reader's attention in Camp's (Suddenly) latest offering, a sluggish historical romance set in Victorian England and based, it seems, on the Kaspar Hauser story. The contrived and groaningly predictable tale opens when Priscilla Hamilton, a vapid heroine who harbors a ""scandalous"" secret (she writes adventure novels under a male pseudonym), finds an injured, naked man crumpled on her doorstep. After he gains consciousness, she learns he's been kidnapped and held prisoner by ruffians and is now suffering from amnesia. Priscilla gives him the name ""John Wolfe"" and passes him off as a distant cousin from America while she attempts to help him regain his memory. A short distance away from Ranleigh Court, the old Duke of Ranleigh has died. The rightful heir to the dukedom has been missing for 30 years, and the new duchess of Ranleigh (with devious plotting) intends to make sure he stays that way. (Sept.)