ΓÇ£A delightful debut.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇôPeople An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life,Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debutThe Curse of Penryth Hall. After the Great WarAmerican heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. SheΓÇÖs always avoided dwelling on the pasteven before the warbut it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countrysideshe is brought back to the one place she swore sheΓÇÖd never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall. A foreboding fortressPenryth Hall is home to RubyΓÇÖs once dearest friendTamsynand her husbandSir Edward Chenowyth. ItΓÇÖs an unsettling placeand after a more unsettling eveningRuby is eager to depart. But her plans change when PenrythΓÇÖs bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchardand with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivellthe person whose books brought her to Cornwallthe one the locals call a Pellarthe man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesnΓÇÖt believe in cursesΓÇöor PellarsΓÇöbut this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but loreand they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn. To protect her friendRuby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.