Not until she herself came to Menfreya as a bride did Harriet discover the secret family legend of infidelity, jealousy and murder. And not until the legend seemed to come dangerously to life did Harriet begin to believe the old story that when the tower clock of Menfreya stopped, someone was about to die . . .

    Persis Bradbury needed a way to recover from the shock and the grief, and the job in Lisbon seemed like an ideal place to find it. But even before her plane had landed, she found herself plunged into a strange mixture of ancient magic and modern mystery. There was a curse. It wasn't supposed to be on Casa Carranca--"The Frowning House"--itself... but it certainly existed. Growing out of a medieval feud, it now groped with its eerie tentacles to ensnare Persis. It seemed unbelievable to an up-to-date American girl--but Persis had to believe it. And, very definitely, there was Dom Sebastiao. He was the most intriguing man she had ever met... but he came and went mysteriously and seemed involved in espionage or worse. Was he the answer to Persis's prayers... or a new threat?

    There she becomes acquainted with the Meryons - Daniel, the handsome head of the family to whom she's immediately drawn, his vicious wife, their daughter who was crippled by a tragic accident, and the great-aunt - an ancient woman of enormous wealth who is near death. The deeply troubled girl takes to Lavina who is employed as her companion at Winterwood, the family's lonely, isolated estate in England. There Lavinia is troubled by the wife's evil scheming, about a nephew who hints that he knows her secret, and after the death of the aunt - struggles to protect the now-wealthy young girl from her ruthless mother.

    But then I found out that was why I was there - to unravel an ancient web of hate and death with the visions my childhood toy brought me - and to play a strange and dangerous part in the dark drama set in that shadow-haunted old house...

    For Sonia's past was marked with heartbreak and scandal. And now, as always, she had turned to Mary for help.... -- Mary soon found herself caught in a mystifying web of terror. Why did strangers claim to know her? Who was the man whose kiss thrilled her while his eyes terrified her? And why was someone stalking her in the night--waiting to move in for the kill? Was Sonia a born victim of evil? Or was it that she, Mary, had really been the victim all along?