Into the Starlight

New information about a long-ago disappearance shakes up a Texas town in Cabot’s textured latest Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing novel (after Against the Wind). In 1883, pianist Joanna Vaughn returns from a short-lived European tour only to discover that her sister Emily has converted their childhood home into a boardinghouse in the wake of their father’s suspicious death the year before. Joanna barely has time to process the news before Dr. Burke Finley and Della Stanley unearth more of the house’s murky history. Built more than 20 years earlier by Burke’s uncle Clive for his fiancée, Della, the Finley House was temporarily entrusted to Joanna’s father when Clive went off to fight in the Civil War, from which he never returned. Now, Della’s convinced that visiting the house will give her closure. But the exact opposite happens when Joanna sees the letter Della received from Joanna’s father about Clive’s death and realizes it isn’t his penmanship. Suspicious that Clive’s disappearance and her father’s death are somehow linked, Joanna teams up with Della and Burke to seek answers. As attraction brews between Joanna and Burke, a secret from her past emerges to complicate matters. Cabot gracefully blends suspense and romance as Joanna and Burke work to unravel the mystery before tragedy strikes again. Energetic and tightly plotted, this captivates. (July)