Heiress of Nowhere
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Mar 17, 2026
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Two starred reviews!
An orphan races to uncover a killer—who may have come from the sea—when she and her beloved orcas fall under suspicion in this “atmospheric…beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) historical gothic mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee.
1918. Orcas Island, Washington.
Lucy Nowhere has spent her eighteen years working on the vast estate of the eccentric shipbuilder who took her in after she washed ashore in a green canoe as a baby. But she has long wished for a life off the island, and in a matter of days, she is set to leave for college—and, for the first time, choose her own future.
Then she finds her employer’s severed head on the beach. Rumors swirl that a mischievous spirit and its minions, the sea wolves, have struck again. Lucy doesn’t believe in myths. She knows that a human—a human murderer—killed him. And when she is unexpectedly named heiress to the estate, she understands the next target is her.
Her closest friend, the estate’s vigilant young guard, begs her to escape while she can. But Lucy knows the only way she can discover who she is, and free the island of its curse, is to find the real killer—before she becomes the next victim.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1918, an orphaned teen must prove herself innocent of her guardian's murder in this atmospheric historical mystery from Lee (Kill Her Twice). As a baby, Lucy Nowhere washes ashore on Orcas Island, Wash., where shipbuilder and estate owner Darkon Sanders takes her in. Now 18, Lucy yearns to see more of the world and learn about her origins; she believes that her acceptance to the University of Washington is her ticket off the island. After Sanders's decapitated head appears on the shoreline, islanders worry that the sea wolves, commanded by the legendary demon Orkus, are responsible for his death. But when Lucy is named heiress of the estate instead of Sanders's dashing nephew Nash, she finds herself under suspicion as well. Science-minded Lucy works to unravel the mystery surrounding the sea wolves and Sanders's murder, along the way becoming romantically entangled with both her watchful friend, Koa, and "presumptuous city rat" Nash. Descriptive prose and sensorial imagery bring the intersectionally diverse people and beguiling setting of this gothic whodunit to vivid life. Realistically rendered characters navigate fast-paced events with a dash of romance, culminating in a captivating adventure that perceptively ruminates on themes of colonization, gender discrimination, and environmental collapse. An author's note concludes. Ages 12–up.
