Nancy Atherton's delightful Aunt Dimity series continues to capture mystery fans across America with each new installment. This newest one finds Lori Shepherd overtaken by the blizzard of the century. Fortunately, she's soon safe and dry with two other stranded backpackers in Ladythorne Abbey, the fabulous home of the late Lucasta DeClerke. Or is she? In the abbey's cloisters and passages there still lingers the haunting presence of Lucasta, a mysterious madwoman-not to mention the danger posed by an unstable caretaker.

When Lori thinks she's learned of a plot to steal a priceless DeClerke family heirloom, she attempts to prevent the theft and, moreover, keep herself out of harm's way. But as Aunt Dimity says, "Old sins cast long shadows." And Lori will need all the Dimity wisdom and compassion she can get to banish the hatred and guilt that shroud Ladythorne Abbey in a blanket considerably thicker than the accumulating snow.