The Thorn Trees — Marcella Thum

An extraordinary woman, an exotic land, and a romance destroyed by murder...

Hoping to end her vagabond theatrical life forever, actress Kate Cantrell leaves the London stage for Africa. There, she is to marry Roger Westmacott. Met at the station in Mombasa by Roger's partner, Cody Prentice, Kate finds herself strangely attracted to the tough-talking American as he is drawn to her willowy beauty and self-assured stele.

But Kate's new life is not all she had hoped it would be. It doesn't take long for her to see what Roger is really like--weak, incompetent, and unforgivably cruel to the natives. Then tragedy strikes: Roger dies mysteriously, and all the evidence points to Kate as his murderer. Abandoned by everyone--including Cody--she is forced to prove her innocence and to stake her claim to her beloved Africa and a new life....