After a rather drab existence in an English orphanage, Linda Martin is appointed governess to the nine-year-old owner of the Chateau Valmy in the French Alps. During little Philippe's minority the estates are being managed by his crippled uncle Leon, and Leon's handsome son Raoul. All seems delightful, but there are tensions below the smooth surface. One sunny afternoon a bullet is fired in the beechwoods . . . and the tensions become terrors.
Read MoreFrom opening to finale, this zestful romantic adventure grips, amuses, frightens and delights - Sunday TelegraphMary Stewart is magic - New York TimesShe set the bench mark for pace, suspense and romance - with a great dollop of escapism as the icing - Elizabeth BuchanA comfortable chair and a Mary Stewart: total heaven. I'd rather read her than most other authors. - Harriet Evans