First published 2005
In 1972 Amsterdam, a sixteen-year-old American girl finds a strange book in her diplomat father's library. The ancient volume contains only a dragon woodcut and the word "Drakulya," plus letters from 1930 addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor." Her widowed father Paul reluctantly explains how the book forces itself on new owners with deadly consequences. Paul tells her about his Oxford adviser Professor Rossi, who became obsessed with proving Dracula still lived before vanishing mysteriously. Paul then continued the research with scholar Helen, who had personal reasons for hunting the truth. As Paul shares these stories, his daughter secretly launches her own investigation. She uncovers the tale through conversations, old correspondence, and direct encounters when Dracula's threat becomes real. The search spans exotic locations and reveals fascinating historical details, but bodies pile up as the family faces their supernatural legacy in a final confrontation.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, supernatural, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: family-legacy, supernatural-investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Amsterdam, Oxford
Period: 1930s, 1972
642 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: death, violence