Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2016
256 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
1821: Virginia farm girl Katherine and her brother, George, travel to England after they inherit an estate, Walthingham Hall. But after George is killed in an apparent accident, Katherine is determined to solve the mystery of his death.
After growing up on a farm in Virginia, Walthingham Hall in England seems like another world to sixteen-year-old Katherine Randolph. Her new life, filled with the splendor of upper class England in the 1820s, is shattered when she discovers the corpse of her brother George in a lake on the estate-the tragic accidental drowning of a young man, the coroner reports, despite the wound to George's head.
Katherine is expected to observe the mourning customs and get on with her life, but she can't accept that her brother's death was an accident. A bitter poacher prowls the estate, and strange visitors threaten the occupants of the house. There's a rumor, too, that a wild animal stalks the woods of Walthingham.
Can Katherine retain her sanity long enough to find out the truth? Or will her brother's killer claim her life, too?
"Starred Review. A fast-paced, satisfying historical novel with a gutsy heroine and an intriguing 19th-century mystery at its core." - Kirkus
"Plot twists abound, but the characters tend to be categorized as good, bad, or indifferent, with few surprises among them, and the ending ties up too neatly, with a knight-in-shining-armor on hand for a final sweeping rescue. " - Publishers Weekly
"The heroine's strong character and the plot twists will appeal even to teens who aren't normally interested in historical fiction... A worthy choice for YA collections." - School Library Journal
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lucinda Gray is the pseudonym of an American novelist who lives in New York.
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