The Killer’s Dastardly Intrigue

Lord Fortescue—Fort—a duke’s youngest son, rejects the traditional path of ministry to become a tutor in Gravesyde’s remote Priory Manor. But when his eldest brother, the duke’s heir, arrives injured after a violent riot, he warns of a cabal of wealthy speculators determined to seize the manor for a scheme that threatens the kingdom. Shortly after that warning, to Fort’s dismay, murder and mayhem arrive with a group of strangers.

The unacknowledged granddaughter of a baron, Lavender Marlowe understands that life can be unfair to women. Rather than seek a husband, she operates a modiste’s shop… until the wealthy newcomers make it chillingly clear they want Lavender as well as the manor.

With Halloween approaching, counterfeit coins surface and another person dies, putting the village on edge. Fort must enlist Lavender in a bold plan: a calculated haunting to expose a killer and drive out the villains who would steal their home.

As danger closes in, their wary partnership becomes trust… and trust turns to something more perilous: love.  If their plan fails, they will lose not only their home—but each other.