Darke of Night Series by Marie Treanor

Spirit possession is easy to remedy. Possession of the heart is another matter. After vicar's widow and natural medium Barbara Darke loses her respectable teaching position, she reluctantly agrees to become companion to her former pupil Emily, now the bride of young Sir Arthur Haggard. Once settled at Haggard Hall, Barbara finds her friend is beset by ghostly voices and unexplained deaths... moreSpirit possession is easy to remedy. Possession of the heart is another matter. After vicar's widow and natural medium Barbara Darke loses her respectable teaching position, she reluctantly agrees to become companion to her former pupil Emily, now the bride of young Sir Arthur Haggard. Once settled at Haggard Hall, Barbara finds her friend is beset by ghostly voices and unexplained deaths. In a maelstrom of dark spirits and wicked emotions, Barbara battles to lay Emily's ghosts to rest-both hampered and helped by Arthur's skeptical cousin Patrick, who provokes and attracts her in equal measure. It would be a mistake to trust a secretive, guilt-ridden man suspected of driving his wife to suicide, if not outright murdering her. And it could well be lethal to give in to her own desires, confused as they often are with the lusts of the dead. But Arthur and Emily are in genuine physical danger, and suspicion is falling closer and closer to Patrick-the man who haunts Barbara's sensual dreams. The man who stands to inherit Haggard Hall. Warning: Contains a medium whose body is open season for spirit possession, and a scandal-ridden journalist who only believes what he can see-and touch. less

Who is the prisoner chained in the castle tower? Lady Guinevere (Guin) Harvey would rather be writing gothic tales of intrigue and adventure than dancing attendance on her sister, the newly married Duchess of Silberwald. Until they arrive at Silverwood Castle, a place of such gothic perfection that Guin is enchanted... moreWho is the prisoner chained in the castle tower? Lady Guinevere (Guin) Harvey would rather be writing gothic tales of intrigue and adventure than dancing attendance on her sister, the newly married Duchess of Silberwald. Until they arrive at Silverwood Castle, a place of such gothic perfection that Guin is enchanted. Ghostly groans and clanking chains lead her through old, misshapen passages to a cell where she meets the odd but charming Kasimir, who’s kept chained like an animal – and who could be a figment of her vivid dreams, the ghost of a dead, mad prince, or just a political prisoner no one wants to talk about. But the castle holds many secrets. What beast makes such soul-chilling cries in the night? Why does she have such strange dreams whenever she drinks the tea? More than anything, why is she falling so easily under the prisoner’s spell? Guin summons the medium Barbara Darke, but by the time Barbara arrives, Guin can no longer distinguish dream from reality, friend from enemy. Even with all Barbara’s unique talents, they have to face new dangers before they finally discover the terrifying truth. less

Behind the veils lurk ghosts, evil, magic...and perhaps the true love of her life. Recently widowed, Caroline, Lady Jordan, escapes the well-meaning fussing of family and friends to the French spa town of Lescloches, where she can mourn in anonymous peace. But before long, she is charmed from her pit of despair by Count Zsigmund Andrassy, a wild young Hungarian soldier, currently in exile to avoid execution. Zsigmund makes her feel alive... moreBehind the veils lurk ghosts, evil, magic...and perhaps the true love of her life. Recently widowed, Caroline, Lady Jordan, escapes the well-meaning fussing of family and friends to the French spa town of Lescloches, where she can mourn in anonymous peace. But before long, she is charmed from her pit of despair by Count Zsigmund Andrassy, a wild young Hungarian soldier, currently in exile to avoid execution. Zsigmund makes her feel alive. On impulse, she succumbs to his seduction and marries him. But once ensconced in the crumbling Andrassy mansion in Budapest, Hungary, Caroline faces more than the hostility and neglect of Zsigmund’s bizarre family. Zsigmund himself seems different, a man driven by his tragic past. Strangely drawn to the apartments where Zsigmund’s young parents died, Caroline is haunted not only by her dead mother-in-law but by her own friend, the medium Barbara Darke. Worse, as someone—maybe her own husband—threatens her life, she begins to suspect the house hides not only spirits, but an evil magic that could kill them all. less

“You have no idea of the darkness that dwells in that house. And in him…” Anna Goring is travelling to meet her fiance’s parents in Cornwall, when she and her family’s governess, the medium Barbara Darke, are forced to seek shelter for the night at Trellyn House - infamous for the terrible murders which happened there two years before. Their reluctant host is the man universally suspected, but never formally accused of the slaughter, talented young pianist Sir Salvador Carnwyth... more“You have no idea of the darkness that dwells in that house. And in him…” Anna Goring is travelling to meet her fiance’s parents in Cornwall, when she and her family’s governess, the medium Barbara Darke, are forced to seek shelter for the night at Trellyn House - infamous for the terrible murders which happened there two years before. Their reluctant host is the man universally suspected, but never formally accused of the slaughter, talented young pianist Sir Salvador Carnwyth. Despite his abrupt, ungracious manner, and the neglect of his once beautiful Gothic home, Anna is fascinated by her troubled host. None of Barbara’s warnings can prevent Anna falling in love with him. When she breaks her engagement and Carnwyth seeks her out in London to propose, her happiness is complete. Until he returns to Trellyn House alone. Anna cannot wait for his summons but when she follows him, her welcome is anything but joyful. What is he hiding from her? Why does he lock himself into his private sitting room so obsessively? Who is it who plays the piano insanely in the middle of the night and makes the blood curdling cries? She knows instinctively it’s all to do with the murder of his family, the crime even his uncle suspects him of. And the danger isn’t over, from this world or the next. less