Ozark Legacy — Amanda Singer

Katie Demorey knew that it was more of a sense of guilt that brought her from her Utah home to the Ozark Mountains of Missouri for her first glimpse of her legacy. She hoped to atone for the feeling of relief that was mingled with her sorrow at the death of her fiance, Charlie Thayer, by picking up the treads of his project to convert Demorey Castle to a Hotel.

But the moment Katie confronted the massive, ornate mansion above Lake of the Ozarks, apprehension stirred with her. Dr. Austin Demorey, the sober, dark-eyed distant cousin she hadn't even known she had, expressed concern when Katie stated her intention to stay at the isolated, run-down estate, but she insisted. After all, she would not be alone, for the Castle was still occupied by the housekeeper who had been in the employ of Katie's recently deceased grandmother. But stern-faced Mrs. Betterman and her sly, dull-witted daughter, Carol Mae, provided scant comfort.

Also unnerving was the legend of Lillian Demorey, Katie's great-grandmother, a violet-eyed beauty to whom Katie bore an astonishing resemblance. Years ago Lillian had plunged over the cliff to her death with the handsome portrait she loved. Rumor had it that Lillian's ghost haunted the house, and Katie had her first brush with the terror awaiting her when she watched a strange man appear from the shadowy woods and commence to sketch the Castel in the gathering dusk.