A retreat to Greece becomes a dangerous trap for a grieving and haunted widow in this novel from “a superb and gifted storyteller” (Mary Higgins Clark).
Ever since Dorcas Brandt’s husband, Gino Nikkaris, died in a plane crash, she’s been beset by troubling suspicions that his shady intrigues in the art world may have been the cause of his death. Desperate for both a new future and answers to the questions about Gino’s past, Dorcas whisks her daughter away to the Greek island of Rhodes. Among Gino’s family, friends, and former colleagues—and a kindhearted American named Johnny—Dorcas hopes to find a semblance of peace as she traverses the magnificent ruins and ancient fortresses.
But her dreams are soon dashed: There’s something accusatory and unforgiving in her late husband’s elderly female patron; the peculiar woman enlisted as her daughter’s nanny is a black hole of hostility; a new love is under threat; and as scrawled warnings appear and disappear before her eyes, she fears for her own sanity. Now, as her husband’s mysterious past casts a shadow over Dorcas’s every move, the young mother must confront not only a terrible truth but also the terrifying fate that awaits her on the white cliffs of the Aegean.
Set against a picturesque Mediterranean backdrop, this novel of lies and family secrets from a New York Times–bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author is “told with the skill that has caused Miss Whitney to be compared with Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier” (The Springfield Republican).
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Phyllis A. Whitney including rare images from the author’s estate.
Born in Yokohama, Japan, on September 9, 1903, Phyllis A. Whitney was a prolific author of award-winning adult and children’s fiction. Her sixty-year writing career and the publication of seventy-six books, which together sold over fifty million copies worldwide, established her as one of the most successful mystery and romantic suspense writers of the twentieth century and earned her the title “The Queen of the American Gothics.”
Whitney resided in several places, including New Jersey. She traveled to every location mentioned in her books in order to better depict the settings of her stories. She earned the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master award in 1988, the Agatha in 1990, and the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Midland Authors in 1995. Whitney was working on her autobiography at the time of her passing at the age of 104.