
Part of Series
For unwed mother Nell Lillington, 1876 Chicago—and her new wealth—offer the promise of longed-for independence. She dreams of a place in society for her daughter Sarah and contentment for her friend Tess. Yet how can she settle in a town where she’s far too likely to run into Martin Rutherford and his glittering, faithless wife, Lucetta? Can she resist her love for Martin for Sarah’s sake? Martin was doubtless joking when he told Nell that if she got herself mixed up with a murderer for the third time, he’d disown her. But when Martin himself is arrested for murder, Nell’s dreams appear to be swallowed up in the new web of secrets she constructs to help him. Secrets that threaten to alienate Tess, Sarah, and even Martin . . . The third book in the House of Closed Doors series will take you to a Chicago teeming with opportunistic new Americans, luxury-loving merchant princes and hard-hearted denizens of the underworld.
Author

Dear Reader, Welcome to my page. Now, I could talk to you about myself in the third person, as if my author-self were someone else, but instead let me give you the Most Important Fact: I was named after Jane Eyre. I swear that this decision of my mother's influenced my entire life. I've always felt that I lead only half my existence here (here being wherever I happen to be) while the much more interesting stuff goes on in my head. It also doomed me to spend most of that head-time in the nineteenth century, hence my books. My aim is to write entertaining fiction that hovers somewhere in the PG range (no graphic sex or nasty stuff unless the plot totally demands it) and is neither dumbed-down nor pretentiously intellectual. In short, it's the type of fiction I like to read when I just need to RELAX. You can get to know me a lot better by subscribing to my newsletter. The short biography is that I've lived in England, Belgium, the United States and England. The problem with moving around is that you end up torn between different countries and cultures; the advantage is that you get to speak more languages (my second language is French). I've had an interestingly varied employment history (editor in a law firm, translating a Belgian aerospace magazine into English and real estate marketing spring to mind, but there were others), and have absorbed more education than is good for me. I'm married to a nice American, and have two adult daughters.


