I love a rich setting that integrates seamlessly with the characters. Hetta's reluctance. Jack's truculence. Wyn's ethereal mystery. Even Aunt Sibyl's waspish tongue. All mixed up with the uncertainty of the Valstar estate and who should lead when the old lord dies.

This is another of those books that just grabbed me by the nose and dragged me back to it - even when I should have been working on my own books. I loved it and will be working through the whole quartet.

A J Lancaster has dished up a feast of a first-in-the-series with this book.

Very highly recommended.