Plot
With much of the rest of the world at war, a number of bored British aristocrats live dissolute and hedonistic lives in a region of Kenya known as Happy Valley, drinking and indulging in decadent sexual affairs to pass the time.
On a January day in 1941, Josslyn Hay, the philandering Earl of Erroll, is found dead in his automobile in a remote location. The Earl has a royal pedigree but a somewhat sordid past and a well-deserved reputation for carrying on with other men's wives.
Lady Diana Broughton is one such woman. She is the beautiful wife of Sir John Henry Delves Broughton, known to most as "Jock," a man at least twice her age. Diana has a pre-nuptial understanding with her husband that should either of them fall in love with someone else, the other will do nothing to impede the romance.
Diana has indeed succumbed to the charms of the roguish Earl of Erroll, whose local conquests also include the drug-addicted American heiress Alice de Janze and the somewhat more reserved Nina Soames. It appears that Diana expects to divorce Broughton and marry the Earl, and, true to his word, Broughton publicly toasts their affair in front of them at a club in Nairobi.
The resentment he feels privately is known only to Broughton and possibly to old friend Jack Soames. In any case, the Earl's murdered corpse is found not far from Broughton's estate, and before long Broughton is charged with the crime.
Diana is distraught over losing her lover, as is Alice, who openly masturbates near his coffin. A local plantation owner, Colville, quietly offers Diana advice and solace, ultimately surprising her by proposing marriage.
Broughton stands trial. There are no witnesses to the crime and the physical evidence is incriminating but circumstantial. He obviously had the motive and means, but is found innocent and the scandal comes to an end.
Read more about this topic: White Mischief
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