The Secret Portrait

TARTAN AND TERROR

Bonnie Prince Charlie's lost treasure lures Edinburgh-based American magazine editor Jean Fairbairn to the Highlands, where madness, murder and ghosts bring the past to life--and sudden death. Retired university professor George Lovelace asks Jean to authenticate a gold coin he believes dates back to the royal purse, but Jean suspects he has a secret, more self-serving motive. Still, she's shocked to stumble upon his murdered body in a centuries-old castle recently purchased by an eccentric American millionaire and his trophy wife.

As the skirl of bagpipes and trail of blood pull Jean into a modern mystery with ties to the last Stuart pretender, Alasdair Cameron--the police detective in charge--uncovers a shocking twist. Meanwhile a killer closes in, determined to keep history dead and buried, along with a few present-day victims.