First published 2023
Emily and Chess arrive at Villa Aestas in Italy, hoping to repair their strained friendship. The luxury rental holds dark secrets from 1974, when rock star Noel Gordon invited musician Pierce Sheldon, his girlfriend Mari, and her stepsister Lara for a creative summer. That season produced Mari's legendary horror novel and Lara's platinum album, but ended with Pierce's violent death. Emily becomes obsessed with uncovering what really happened during those fatal months. She suspects the official story of sex, drugs, and rock music gone wrong masks something more sinister. Clues may lie hidden within the famous works Mari and Lara created. As Emily digs deeper into the villa's history, her relationship with Chess grows increasingly tense. Present day secrets emerge alongside revelations from the past. The villa's deadly influence threatens to claim another victim before Emily and Chess can escape its grip.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Villa Aestas, Italy
Period: 1974, Present Day
276 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: death, violence