Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
First book in a new series from an author to watch
Twenty-nine-year-old, independent, and self-assured Cambridge history professor Emma D'Eresby has one obsession in life: the curious journal of a seventeenth-century Englishman, a portion of which was left to her by her late grandfather.
When an unexpected opportunity to study the journal in its entirety presents itself, Emma finds herself leaving Cambridge to take up a year-long position at a prestigious university in Maine. Anticipating a quiet year of research, Emma quickly discovers her work impeded by a range of unforeseen complications. From the start, there is the well-intentioned matchmaking of her vivacious Russian colleague, Elena Smalova, and the unexpected jailing of one of her post-graduate students. More troublesome, however, are the unsolved, brutal night attacks on women near the university and Emma's suspicion that they might be linked to the sinister English professor, Kort Staahl. But, most diverting and disconcerting of all, is Emma's growing attraction to the strikingly handsome Dr. Matthew Lynes, whose kind but deliberately distant demeanor puzzles her.
Suspense and dread mount when Kort begins to take a persistent and unsettling interest in Emma. What are Kort's intentions, and what is he capable of? And the mystery surrounding Matthew only deepens when Emma discovers a link between him and the journal. What is Matthew trying to hide?
"An ominous sense of developing tension ... a most fluent writer."
--Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse
"Vivid prose which will hold a reader's attention to a riveting conclusion."
--Mel Starr, author of The Unquiet Bones
"A tense and accomplished debut novel blending romance with thriller."
--Fay Sampson, author of The Hunted Hare
"An impressive debut for a promising new writer. One to watch."
--Taylor Holden, author of The Sense of Paper
Synopsis
When Emma D'Eresby - a 29 year-old, self-contained Professor of History - leaves her Cambridge college for a post in an exclusive university in Maine, USA, she hopes to learn more about a curious 17th-century journal in the College library. Instead, it leads her to a secret that should never have been uncovered. In the States, Emma meets the enigmatic 33-year-old surgeon, Matthew Lynes, a quiet and thoughtful widower. Driven to learn more about him, Emma takes the unique journal from the College library in which she believes there are clues to his family's English past. Meanwhile, the sinister Professor Koort Staahl mounts a psychotic attack on her. Matthew's courageous intervention saves her, but as he nurses her back to health, his unusual attributes raise questions he is unwilling to answer. As Part One ends, she returns to her claustrophobic family, avoiding her domineering father and wrestling with despair.
Synopsis
If I could say one thing...Read this ' - Colin Dexter Emma, a young and self-contained professor of history, leaves Cambridge for a post in an exclusive university in the USA, intent on finding a long-overlooked 17th century journal. Bound within its pages are secrets that threaten to bring Emma into conflict with the present; but can she discover the truth - and will she believe it? 'The sense of growing menace will have readers gripping the edge of their seats. A tense and accomplished debut blending romance with thriller.' - Fay Sampson, author of The Hunted Hare An impressive debut for a promising new writer. One to watch. - Taylor Holden, author of Waking Ned and The Sense of Paper 'I began Mortal Fire one winter evening, with a cup of hot chocolate near at hand. Within a few chapters the chocolate was ignored and had gone cold. C. F. Dunn's vivid prose holds the reader's attention right to the riveting conclusion.' - Mel Starr, author of The Unquiet Bones