Daughter of the Stars Book

"Were they all lying? Misleading me for their own purposes?..."
Lacey Elliot has been a woman without a past since the day her mother whisked her off to Charlottesville, refusing for thirty years to speak of her father, her family, or her history.
But when Lacey intercepts a desperate letter from an aunt in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Lacey sees her chance to confront the past that has terrified her mother and to fill in the gaps in her own life.
Against the charm and colorful, turbulent history of the picturesque town, the violent history of Lacey's heritage is about to repeat itself. As she finds herself drawn to a man intrigued by the town for reasons of his own, old ghosts reappear and danger returns—as a killer walks among them once more....
"Evocative, moving, suspenseful—another surefire winner from the writer who taught all of us how it should be done."
—BARBARA MICHAELS PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY IS A WINNER OF THE GRAND MASTER AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

Publishers Weekly

Once again thrusting her trademark likable heroine into a murky situation, this veteran author comes up with a better than average mystery/romance. After receiving an urgent letter, children's-book author Lacey Elliott rushes from her Virginia home to Harpers Ferry, W.Va., hoping to uncover the truth about her father's murder. She encounters an assortment of relatives: great-aunt Vinnie, who harbors a secret; grandfather Daniel, who was suspected of the murder; a half-sister, Caryl, and her young son Egan; great-grandmother Lacey; and Henry Elliot, her father's strange, drunkard brother. She also meets handsome history professor Ryan Pearce-their blossoming romance is chastely indicated by a few innocent kisses. The mystery is heightened by the presence of a few Civil War ghosts who ultimately shed light on the killing. Whitney depicts both the town itself and the raid conducted there by abolitionist John Brown (as narrated by one of the characters) with her customary attention to background details. Suspense fans will be caught up in this yarn's myriad plot twists, which culminate in a gratifying surprise ending. (Sept.)