Gin and jazz, cigarettes and safaris; if you blend glamor from The Great Gatsby and romance from "Out of Africa" you are beginning to grasp the stunning new novel that is Delilah Marvelle's A Spear of Summer Grass.

Paris, 1923

The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even amongst Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather's savannah manor house until gossip subsides.

Fairlight is the crumbling, sun-bleached skeleton of a faded African dream, a world where dissolute expats are bolstered by gin and jazz records, cigarettes and safaris. As mistress of this wasted estate, Delilah falls into the decadent pleasures of society.

Against the frivolity of her peers, Ryder White stands in sharp contrast. As foreign to Delilah as Africa, Ryder becomes her guide to the complex beauty of this unknown world. Giraffes, buffalo, lions and elephants roam the shores of Lake Wanyama amid swirls of red dust. Here, life is lush and teeming-yet fleeting and often cheap.

Amidst the wonders-and dangers-of Africa, Delilah awakes to a land out of all proportion: extremes of heat, darkness, beauty and joy that cut to her very heart. Only when this sacred place is profaned by bloodshed does Delilah discover what is truly worth fighting for-and what she can no longer live without.

About Deanna Raybourn:

A sixth-generation native Texan, New York Times bestselling author DEANNA RAYBOURN graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter and is hard at work on her next novel.

• A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS is New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn’s seventh book for Harlequin MIRA. This is her second stand-alone novel and steps away from the Victorian genre and into the Golden Twenties.
• SILENT ON THE MOOR (MIRA, 3/09) landed on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestseller list even before its official release and remained on the bestseller list for eight weeks.
• SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY (MIRA, 1/08) was nominated for a Dilys Award and
a Daphne du Maurier Award.
• SILENT IN THE GRAVE (MIRA, 1/07) won a RITA® Award for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements and an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award in the Best First Mystery Category.