Shadow of the Rope

A woman stands trial for murdering her husband, and the world has already pronounced her guilty. When the jury delivers a shocking verdict of Not Guilty, Rachel Minchin finds herself more vulnerable than ever: acquitted, but without protection in a society that has decided she is dangerous. Then a silent observer from the courtroom makes her an offer she cannot refuse. Mr. Steel will marry her, shelter her, ask nothing of her body or her fortune. The only condition: neither shall ever question the other about the past. They retreat to Steel's isolated estate, where Rachel begins to piece together the impossible: her second husband's history is tangled with her first husband's death in ways he refuses to explain. As she draws closer to the truth, local gossips stir, threatening to expose secrets she thought buried forever. Hornung, creator of the celebrated Raffles criminal tales, brings his appetite for darkness to this tale of a woman caught between the gallows and the man who saved her, asking what price safety truly costs when it is purchased with silence.