Sins of the Father (The Alardyce Series Book 1)

A brand new historical crime series from the author of the Dividing Line series.

Edinburgh 1880. When Amy Osbourne’s parents die in an accident she’s forced to leave her London home and is sent to live with her aunt and uncle at the opposite end of the country. Alardyce House is cold and dreary, her aunt haughty and cruel. Amy strikes up a friendship with her cousin Edward, but his brother Henry is just as conceited as his mother and a mutual loathing develops between him and Amy.

As she struggles in this strange, unwelcoming environment, Amy begins to realise that something isn’t right at Alardyce House. Local women are brutally attacked and Henry is the prime suspect but, as he belongs to a powerful family, nothing is done to stop him.

Lost in this house of shadows and struggling with her grief, Amy embarks on an affair with Matthew, a servant. When the affair is discovered Matthew is dismissed and Amy’s formidable aunt compels her to marry Henry to save her from shame, although her ulterior motive is the large fortune that comes with her hand.

Mortified at the prospect of spending her life with a monster, Amy flees to London carrying an illegitimate child. But this is only the start of her troubles, which will lead her to pain and cruelties that will leave her life hanging in the balance.

Contains scenes of sex, violence, imprisonment and torture.