Part of Lady Darby Mysteries
First published 2014
Lady Kiera Darby arrives at her childhood home in Scotland hoping for a quiet Hogmanay. She needs rest after losing a close friend, and her brother Trevor's company and the festivity of the New Year's ball seem like the right medicine. Then a caretaker turns up dead at Dryburgh Abbey and a grave is found disturbed. Kiera cannot walk away. Her knowledge of anatomy sets her apart from anyone else on the case, even if involving herself again will cost her socially. When inquiry agent Sebastian Gage arrives, he brings worse news: this is not an isolated incident. Someone has been systematically digging up old remains and demanding payment for their return. Kiera and Gage must work together to identify the culprit before another family receives a ransom note, or worse. The investigation pulls them close, and the emotions that stirs are harder to manage than any crime scene. Set in Scotland in 1830, this third installment in the Lady Darby series blends sharp period detail with a protagonist who is equal parts scientist and social outcast.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, mystery, british-literature, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotionally-complex, period-detail, slow-burn, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, second-chance-romance
Setting: Scotland, Dryburgh Abbey
Period: 1830, Hogmanay
421 pages · Paperback · Penguin Publishing Group
Content warnings: death, murder