Rose, Rose, Where Are You? — Rosemary Ellerbeck

To academic Clare Trafford, working on a biography of Joan and Arc, the charming French coastal town of Port St Pierre, where Joan was briefly imprisoned on her way to her death in Rouen, seems like the perfect place to work and continue her research. It is also remote enough to allow her to sort out her thoughts about her own crumbling marriage to a fellow academic in England. Dominating the town and overlooking the bay is the Chateau des Moulins home of an aristocratic French family, the de Frigecourts, who seem plagued by misfortune. When Clare discovers that the estate is built on the site of Saint Joan's prison and that the de Frigecourts are direct descendents of the Burgundian dukes who sold Joan to the English, an ancient curse which she had dismissed as legend slowly seems to becoming deadly fact.

Clare is drawn into the family circle and is intrigued by the similarity of the children's mysterious governess, Jeanne, to her namesake Joan of Arc. Enchanted by the family and also attracted by the children's handsome father, Laurent, Clare discovers that her own destiny has become inextricably entangled with the curse of the martyred saint and the family she has befriended. A terrifying sequence of inexplicable events eventually threaten her own life and those around her.

‘A captivating French seaside Gothic romance with supernatural overtones … history, spookiness and suspense.'

Publishers Weekly

‘A Gothic romance with a difference; its tension and terrors are far from imaginary. Nicola Thorne gives us a believable, flesh-and-blood heroine, face to face with unbelievable perils which seemingly have no flesh-and-blood foundation. A skillful blend of natural and supernatural menace which should mystify and satisfy her fans.'

Robert Block author of Psycho

‘I've always been a pushover for stories about Joan of Arc. Rose, Rose, Where Are you? opened up a new area for me. A tale of Burgundian curses and treasures is told in a new refreshing voice. Clare Trafford, biographer/amateur detective, is as brash in following the many turns and twists of the plot, as she is unorthodox in romance.'

Cecelia Bartholomew author of Outrun the Dark