The Oxford Inheritance — A.A. McDonald

At prestigious Oxford University, an American student searches for the truth about her mother's death in this eerie, suspenseful thriller steeped in money, murder, and black magic.

Black is the badge of hell / the hue of dungeons and the School of Night...

When Cassie Blackwell arrives at the illustrious Raleigh College at Oxford, she hasn't come for the academics, the ivy-covered archways, or even the pub crawls and formal balls. She's on a mission to find the truth about her mother.

Raised in America, Cassie has no idea that her mother had ever studied at the famed college, until she receives a mysterious package. Enclosed is a ticket stub (Plymouth to New York by boat, 1994), a picture of Johanna in the full black-robe regalia of Oxford University, and a cryptic note. Yearning for answers, Cassie travels to England, where she is plunged into the glamorous, secretive life of Raleigh College. Cassie finds a world like no other, full of ancient tradition, privilege and murder.

Beneath the hallowed halls of this storied university there is a mysterious force at work ... a dark society that is influencing the lives of many, and will stop at nothing to keep its grip on power. Cassie might be the only one who can stop them but at what cost?