Light from a Distant Star is a gripping coming-of-age story with a brutal murder at its heart and a heroine as unforgettable as Harper Lee’s “Scout.”
It
is early summer and Nellie Peck is on the cusp of adolescence – gangly,
awkward, full of questions, but keenly observant and wiser than many of
the adults in her life. The person she most admires is her father,
Benjamin, a man of great integrity. His family’s century old hardware
store is failing and Nellie’s mother has had to go back to work.
On an early spring morning in Richmond, Virginia, in the year 1885, a
young pregnant woman is found floating in the city reservoir. It appears
that she has committed suicide, but there are curious clues at the
scene that suggest foul play. The case attracts local attention, and an
eccentric group of men collaborate to solve the crime. Detective Jack
Wren lurks in the shadows, weaseling his way into the investigation and
intimidating witnesses. Policeman Daniel Cincinnatus Richardson, on the
brink of retirement, catches the case and relentlessly pursues it to its
sorrowful conclusion.
Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it’s a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe … he can open them all.
It’s an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime.
The news arrives in a letter to his sister, Nannerl, in December 1791. But the message carries more than word of Nannerl’s brother’s demise. Two months earlier, Mozart confided to his wife that his life was rapidly drawing to a close . . . and that he knew he had been poisoned.
In Vienna to pay her final respects, Nannerl soon finds herself ensnared in a web of suspicion and intrigue—as the actions of jealous lovers, sinister creditors, rival composers, and Mozart’s Masonic brothers suggest that dark secrets hastened the genius to his grave. As Nannerl digs deeper into the mystery surrounding her brother’s passing,
Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle’s most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she’s never looked back.
Until now.
A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago.
When her mom calls to tell her that Tess, her younger sister, is missing, Bee returns home to London on the first flight. She expects to find Tess and give her the usual lecture, the bossy big sister scolding her flighty baby sister for taking off without letting anyone know her plans. Tess has always been a free spirit, an artist who takes risks, while conservative Bee couldn’t be more different. Bee is used to watching out for her wayward sibling and is fiercely protective of Tess (and has always been a little stern about her antics). But then Tess is found dead,
