One Touch of Scandal

Carlyle's supernatural Victorian trilogy opener introduces a governess in desperate straits. Grace Gauthier is about to get engaged to her employer when someone murders him. Dodging suspicious police, Grace goes to a London gentlemen's club in search of a man who knew her father. Instead of finding the family friend, she encounters Lord Ruthveyn, a part-Indian war hero who agrees to help her prove her innocence by using his connections to thwart the efforts of the most determined investigators. The vibrant attraction between the two is complicated by Ruthveyn's psychic visions and his inability to "read" Grace's future. Grace's tenacity, wit, and compassion make her a very believable, multidimensional character and the perfect match for Ruthveyn's brooding and dark secrets. The romance sizzles, its unpredictability propelling this complex story far beyond its contemporaries. (Oct.)