The Sinister Garden — Marilyn Ross

A beautiful young woman risks her life to free the prisoner of the ancient castle.

An orphan deserted by her mother when she was just a child, Nikki Ainsley learns quite suddenly that her true father is Robert Shane, a once-famous sculptor now living in seclusion in France. Upon his insistence, she goes to live at this home, Chateau St. Malo, an ancient castle said to be haunted by the ghost of a mad abbot.

At once Nikki is sorry she came. Oddly, she is unable to feel any emotion toward her father. His family--his second wife and their two teenaged children--and his secretary are openly hostile. Even her father seems slightly mad.

Slowly the evil atmosphere at the chateau deepens. Nikki sees, on several occasions, the abbot's ghost--said to be warning of impending death. Strange sounds at night coming from the padlocked fourth floor convince Nikki that someone is being held prisoner there.

Nikki feels compelled to remain at the chateau when she begins to suspect that the prisoner is her own mother. But as the attacks on her own life begin, Nikki learns too late how deep the evil really lies.