Mistress of Lies is the second book in the Mistress of Fortune series, set in 17th century London and featuring Isabel Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II who secretly makes her living as a fortuneteller. Coming from Carina Press in Fall 2014.

About the book:

For the past six years, Isabel Wilde, a mistress to England’s King Charles II, has made a good living disguised as a fortuneteller counseling London’s nobility. But lately, she’s suffered a downturn in visits to the room in Coal Yard Alley where she conducts her business and she’s worried about her future. So when the king invites her to move into Whitehall Palace, she’s tempted to do it, despite their tumultuous past.

Whitehall Palace circa 1675
The Palace of Whitehall by Hendrick Danckerts, c. 1675.

Isabel’s plans are interrupted when a beggar girl named Susanna shows up at her home claiming to be the daughter of Isabel’s older brother, Adam Barber. Isabel’s always believed that Adam died alone, without wife or child, in plague-ravaged England whilst she was in Amsterdam at the behest of the king. But when Susanna reveals that Adam was actually murdered, Isabel feels she has no choice but to take up a seemingly impossible task: discover the truth about her brother’s death, twelve years after it happened.

Isabel’s investigation leads her through the gamut of London society, from bear baiting matches and brothels to the secretive world of wealthy goldsmith bankers. As she uncovers the truth about her brother’s dark past—in the process revealing the misdeeds of one of London’s most powerful citizens—she’s left to wonder whether the past is better left buried, especially when crossing the wrong person just might lead to her own burial.

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