Within These Gilded Halls
A Regency Romance
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Hidden treasure and betrayal mingle with unexpected love within the walls of Avonthorpe Hall.
After studying art under Miss Drake, a renowned painter, Phoebe Radcliff is certain she can finally move beyond the childish mistake that’s kept her away from home. She is thrilled when Miss Drake employs her to complete a complicated ballroom renovation.
Everything changes, however, the moment Miss Drake is murdered. With her last breath she imparts the location of a clue to Phoebe. Can the biggest secret of Avonthorpe Hall be true—the rumored treasure real? Phoebe is tasked to finish her work in the ballroom by Miss Drake’s infuriatingly regimented yet all-too-handsome nephew, Lt. Graham Burke. Determined to fulfill the promise she made to her beloved teacher to find the treasure, Phoebe also works to uncover the truth about Miss Drake’s death—and she must do so before Lt. Burke leases the house.
But dark shadows line the gilded halls of Avonthorpe, and soon enough Phoebe realizes she’s not the only person who knows about the clues. What’s worse, she needs Lt. Burke’s help to stay ahead of whoever is hard on her heels. If only she weren’t so attracted to him.
Caught up in a deadly race for answers, Phoebe must find a way to breach the shroud of lies that surrounds every last resident in the house and, more importantly, face a past she’s been running away from for far too long.
Regency romance and mysteryStand-alone novelBook length: approximately 95,000 wordsIncludes discussion questions for book clubsAlso by author: Twilight at Moorington Cross, Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey, and The Vanishing at Loxby Manor
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wilson (Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey) delivers a stimulating romantic mystery set in 1819 Regency England. Aspiring painter Phoebe Radcliff works under the tutelage of artist Miss Drake restoring the ballroom at Drake's Avonthorpe estate. Drake's great-nephew Lt. Graham Burke, an artifact dealer, visits and Phoebe overhears him discussing, with skepticism, the treasure of King John rumored to be hidden on the estate. Then, Drake is murdered, and with her dying breath she tells Phoebe a clue to the whereabouts of the treasure, and Phoebe realizes she and Graham aren't the only ones on the hunt for it. Phoebe and Graham join forces, and though Phoebe had planned to lead an independent life and never marry, she falls for her handsome partner in spite of herself. However, she fears that a secret from her past will ruin her newfound romance. Meanwhile, Phoebe learns that a friend has betrayed her confidence, leading Phoebe to realize that God had used her trials to humble her, and she forgives her friend. Wilson elegantly weaves together the treasure hunt, romance, and murder mystery threads, and a colorful supporting cast—including the steadfast butler, Arnold, money-strapped Mrs. Fagean, and prying Miss Chant—will keep readers wondering whom to trust. This edge-of-the-seat mystery satisfies.
