Mist of Midnight: A Novel (The Daughters of Hampshire)

In the Mist of Midnight, Rebecca Ravenshaw is a stranger to England. Raised in India by her missionary parents, she must return to her family’s ancestral estate following the deaths of her parents in the Indian Mutiny. But all is not well at Headbourne Hall. Rebecca finds that another woman appeared a year earlier, claiming to be the long lost Ravenshaw daughter. The woman died unexpectedly and supposedly by her own hand, leaving Captain Luke Whitfield the new heir. As Rebecca seeks the truth of the imposter, she falls for Captain Whitfield. But questions remain. Does he truly care for her or he is only grasping at the fortune that was once his? And what really happened to the first Rebecca Ravenshaw?

Sandra Byrd has reintroduced gothic romance back into the historical fiction genre, and does so with panache. Though set in Hampshire, the misty atmosphere evokes the wild, windswept moors of Yorkshire. Every action is shrouded in mystery and everyone is suspect. Byrd constructs an excellent yarn with romantic elements that will appeal to readers of the historical fiction, mystery, and romance genres.