Book 2 in The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire by Syrie James

She risks everything for the truth.
He guards secrets that could tear them apart.

When Athena Taylor opens the Darkmoor Bridge School for Girls at the grand and storied Thorndale Manor, she hopes for a new beginning. But the estate’s dark past quickly resurfaces when a maid is found dead under suspicious circumstances—and whispers stir of a murder committed nine years earlier, a crime for which Ian Vernon’s sister was convicted.

Athena believes the two cases are connected. Ian Vernon, Thorndale’s brooding former heir, insists she’s wrong—and warns her to leave the past buried. But Athena is as fearless as she is determined, and her investigation brings her into close quarters with the man who should be her adversary… yet soon proves to be something much more.

As secrets unravel and a killer grows desperate, Athena finds herself in terrifying danger, caught between the pursuit of justice and a powerful attraction that threatens to derail everything.

Tropes you’ll love:

✔ Victorian gothic mystery

✔ Woman sleuth / heroine with a mission

✔ Brooding former heir

✔ Enemies to lovers

✔ Forbidden attraction

✔ Murder and family secrets

✔ Slow-burn historical romance

A richly atmospheric mystery layered with romance, betrayal, and the dark undercurrents of a house built on secrets.

The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire

Book 1 - The Mysteries of Pendowar Hall

Book 2 - The Secrets of Thorndale Manor

Book 3 - Danger at Darkmoor Park