I was caught upon a chessboard, a helpless pawn in a game of life and death, and the green rook was hunting me. That tall rook of green-black yew who had it in his power to destroy the king and end the game..." When Eve North returns to Athmore after three years' separation from her husband Justin, she finds the great estate-and Justin himself-vastly changed. Eve too has changed. She knows now the mistakes she made in her marriage in the past, and she now dares to win back the love of her own husband. Like another Eve, she wanders into the gardens of Athmore, unsuspecting. Yet she has reason to fear. Justin's brother Marc had once before placed her in a compromising position in that place of secrets-the green velvet room. Justin had believed Marc and never forgiven her. Now Marc waits for her at Athmore. Then, too, she has been warned that Justin has made up his mind at last to divorce her in order to marry Alicia Daven-the cool, serene Alicia whose quiet assurance comes from generations at Grovesend, and who has always taunted the American Eve with her tempting of Justin. Old Daniel-just before he is sent to his death-tries to warn Eve. It is he who carved from the green-black yew a topiary garden, one of the marvels of Athmore. The dark trees are clipped into the shape of chessmen, at a game forever in play. The black rook stands poised in readiness, like a hunter ready for the kill, challenging the white king. Daniel cries to Eve, "It's the black rook's play!"--but he dies before Eve can learn his fateful meaning. Eve finds herself entrapped on a chessboard of evil, unsure of her next move, yet aware that the black rook will move again-this time to destroy her.

    The marriage grew even stranger, day by day. -- Why did Damon treat her as a child, not as a wife? What was hidden behind the walls of the garden? Why were the villagers afraid to work at the Abbey? And was the hooded figure she glimpsed in the mist only her imagination, or was he real?Tessa knew that she must solve the mystery that haunted the Abbey, or she could never truly be Damon's wife. And suddenly, she wanted that more than anything in the world.

     Rose walks into a web of secrets and lies when she accepts an invitation from unknown relatives to the ancient family home of Endel, in a remote and misty marshland village. Rose is welcomed by her handsome cousin, Robert, and his wife, June. They are keen to make amends for a family quarrel from generations past. But the friendly atmosphere is shattered by the mysterious David Lofthouse. Rose recognises him from her recent trip to Austria, where she almost lost her life in a freak accident. Or was it? Why has David come to Endel? Is Rose safe under the same roof as her cousin's house guest? After a series of eerie and near-fatal events, the shocking truth will be revealed to Rose.

    Peggy discovered a handsome neighbor, a mysterious grave, and a fiendish plot. Some one would do anything to keep Peggy from the secret of Blue Devil Suite.

    In a shock of intuition she realizes that here is no ordinary castle....and that she will be no usual housekeeper. It takes but one step across the moat to involve her in the strange happenings in the place she has agreed to oversee: the eerie estate with its abbey, its vault, and its legend of The Black Abbess.