In this eerily riveting thrillerâthe follow-up to the international bestseller Dark AugustâGus Monet becomes dangerously entangled with a powerful family whose wealth and success are built on dark and deadly secrets.
After moving back to her hometown and solving her mother's murder, Augusta (Gus) Monet thought she was finally settled. Content for the first time in her life. Done with digging into the past.
But itâs not to be. Cue hard reset number whatever.
When Gus makes a mistake she canât undo, she does the only thing she can: cuts and runs. Packs all her things in the dead of night and takes off. Gus lands at The Ambassador Court, an art-deco apartment building with cheap rent in one of Ottawaâs oldest neighborhoods where no one knows her. The perfect place for a fresh startâor at least a good place to hide.
She soon meets Poppy Honeywell, her reclusive elderly neighbor who wanders about in a pink kimono like an aging Hollywood starlet and who happens to be a descendant of the Mutchmores, one of the city's founding families. When a body emerges from an icy pond in a nearby park, Gusâs growing curiosity with Poppy and her influential family suddenly takes a perilous turn with deadly consequences.Â
The Mutchmores have been hiding a treacherous secret for decadesâone they are willing to sacrifice anythingâand anyoneâto keep buried. Little do they know, thatâs just the kind of secret Gus canât resist.
Katie Tallo has been an award-winning screenwriter and director for more than three decades. After winning an international contest for unpublished fiction, she began writing novels, including Dark August and Poison Lilies. She has a daughter and lives with her husband in Ottawa, Ontario.