A Most Suspicious Guest

Aveline Hawthorne has enough problems already. The gentleman she believed she might marry has turned out to be very much married already.

Then she discovers a dead man in the lake on her family's property. And when she returns home shaken and frightened, she encounters a handsome stranger with an injured hand, a bloodstained handkerchief, and an explanation she isn't entirely certain she believes.

His name is Mr. Garth Fairchild. He claims he was attacked by highwaymen. Naturally, Aveline is suspicious. Unfortunately, she is also rather attracted to him.

And things are about to become considerably worse. With danger creeping closer to Hawthorne Inn, suspicious guests arriving at its doors, and secrets hiding beneath perfectly respectable Regency society, Aveline finds herself tangled in a mystery much larger than she ever expected.

Fortunately, she has help.

Unfortunately... the help is dead.