In the quiet village of Hazlehurst, a startling mystery unfolds. John Treverton, a dashing but penniless gentleman, stands to inherit a fortune and a grand manor-but only if he marries Laura Malcolm within a year. As their wedding day approaches, dark secrets from John's past threaten to surface. A brutal murder in London's seedy theater district casts a long shadow over the couple's newfound happiness. Laura, torn between love and suspicion, must confront the possibility that her husband is not the man she thought he was. With a determined local poet playing amateur detective and a shrewd Scotland Yard inspector closing in, John and Laura's world begins to unravel. This gripping Victorian thriller weaves together romance, suspense, and the consequences of desperate choices in a thrilling tale that will keep readers guessing until the final page!.