Darkness at Shadowside

Where a ghost with her face walks the halls, can Justine solve a century-old murder?

All her life, Justine Blakely has visited a mysterious house in her dreams. Now, newly orphaned at 18 years old, she discovers that the house is real. Even though it means leaving her dull but secure life as a maidservant behind, she determines to go there, no matter what the cost.

At the decaying manor house called Shadowside, she is shocked to find that the residents recognize her, for a ghost with her face walks the halls at night. Horace Feversham and his wife, Irene, welcome her into their household in hopes that she can save them from a tragic curse: Nearly a century ago, a brutal and unsolved double murder at Shadowside set off a deluge of unrelenting bad fortune for the family.

When Justine sees the ghost for herself, however, it raises new questions about her relationship to the Feversham family and its grim legacy. As she seeks answers to the mystery of her own identity, she finds a possible ally in Evan Shaw, the enigmatic coachman whose scarred face bespeaks a troubled past.

But soon the violent history of Shadowside starts to bleed into the present, and Justine realizes that her life is in danger. With flood waters threatening to engulf the estate, she must find a way to escape the echoes of the past and rectify a century-old crime before she, too, becomes a ghost...

This thrilling gothic romance in a Victorian setting combines mystery, the supernatural, an innocent but plucky heroine, a tragic ghost, and (of course) a brooding hero. Readers who love classic gothic romantic suspense in the tradition of Barbara Michaels, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Victoria Holt will not want to miss Darkness at Shadowside!