"The Prodigal Daughter"

Book II of the "Letters from the Dead" Series

The prodigal daughter is returned from exile,
but will her ancestral home become her prison?

Abruptly recalled after more than a decade in exile, a 22-year-old Isabella, the only daughter of the sixteenth generation of her dynastic family, finally returns to the sprawling but isolated Alpine estate where she spent the first twelve years of her life.

Her grandfather, the former patriarch of the family, is dead, but the shadowy enemies he first warned Isabella about ten years earlier have not given up their designs on the remnants of his wealth and power. Surrounded by these enigmatic threats, “The Chairman,” Isabella’s father, now rules the dynasty with a cold and clinical efficiency. Recalling his daughter from her indolent and hedonistic exile was no accident. The dynasty has plans for Isabella, plans that threaten to destroy her freedom and independence forever.

Within days of her arrival, Isabella is manoeuvred into an engagement to Yves Böhm, the son of her grandfather’s oldest and dearest friend, and a hopelessly misogynistic playboy. A virtual prisoner, living with the certainty that her eldest brother intends to act on the vendetta between them, and with no one to turn to, Isabella must begin to solve the mysteries her grandfather first hinted at, the enigmas of a 350-year-old secret society that she must uncover if she is to forge new alliances among those who might help her escape.

At first, Isabella’s efforts to co-opt one of her father’s most trusted aides seem inspired, but will her growing feelings for this handsome, former mercenary with a mysterious past compromise all her efforts? And even if not, can she ever be sure where his true loyalties lie?

Even worse, Isabella’s actions threaten to attract the attention of the shadowy forces dedicated to destroying her family, forces that have their own plans for the wayward heiress. With time running out, she must either accept a lifetime of servitude that loyalty to her family demands, or pull off an elaborate and dangerous heist–a path that could see her forever branded a traitor to the family and cost those closest to her everything.