Anne Meredith faces an impossible choice: marry David Curtis, the surgeon who lost his sight in the Great War, or forfeit her home and fortune. She doesn't love him. She barely knows him. But her wealthy uncle's ultimatum leaves no room for negotiation. Then comes the murder, and suddenly Anne's reluctant suitor becomes the prime suspect. With the police circling and secrets multiplying within the Meredith family, Anne must navigate a treacherous landscape where independence and survival seem mutually exclusive. Lincoln's 1923 mystery doubles as a sharp examination of a woman's agency in an era when marriage often served as the only viable option for financial security. The blind surgeon as romantic lead adds an unexpected dimension to this period puzzle, lending the novel a distinctive character among golden age mysteries.
