LIST OF TITLES (Scroll Further for Images, Book Descriptions and Review Links)
32 Titles from 1961 – 1993 (Mistress of Mellyn was first published anonymously in Ladies Home Journal in 1960.)
Mistress of Mellyn (1961 Collins)
Kirkland Revels (1962 Collins)
Bride of Pendorric (1963 Collins)
The Legend of the Seventh Virgin (1965 Collins)
Menfreya (1966 Collins)
The King of the Castle (1967 Collins) (1967 Doubleday NY)
The Queen’s Confession (1968 Collins)
The Shivering Sands (1969 Collins)
The Secret Woman (1971 Collins)
The Shadow of the Lynx (1972 Collins)
On the Night of the Seventh Moon (1973 Collins)
The Curse of the Kings (1973 Collins)
The House of a Thousand Lanterns (1974 Collins)
Lord of the Far Island (1975 Collins)
The Pride of the Peacock (1976 Collins)
The Devil on Horseback (1977 Collins)
My Enemy the Queen (1978 Collins)
The Spring of the Tiger (1979 Collins)
The Mask of the Enchantress (1980 Collins)
The Judas Kiss (1981 Collins)
The Demon Lover (1982 Collins)
The Time of the Hunter’s Moon (1983 Collins)
The Landower Legacy (1984 Collins)
The Road to Paradise Island (1985 Collins)
Secret for the Nightingale (1986 Collins)
The Silk Vendetta (1987 Collins)
The India Fan (1988 Collins)
The Captive (1989 Collins)
Snare of Serpents (1990 Collins)
Daughter of Deceit (1991 Harper Collins)
Seven for a Secret (1992 Harper Collins)
The Black Opal (1993 Harper Collins)
BOOK DESCRIPTIONS
Mistress of Mellyn
Review/Article: From Historical Fiction to Suspense, Victoria Holt’s Mistress of Mellyn
Article: Mistress of Mellyn in Ladies Home Journal, April 1960
Goodreads:
Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned…But what about its master–Connan TreMellyn? Was Martha Leigh’s new employer as romantic as his name sounded? As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her. TreMellyn’s young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered. But it was the girl’s father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil–even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha’s life. Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets–as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love–and the freedom to find a golden promise forever…
1966 Crest Paperback:
From the moment Martha Leigh first glimpsed the cold, brooding manse high on the fog-shrouded Cornish cliffs, she felt a chill of apprehension.
Then she met her employer, the arrogant master of Mellyn, and his spoiled, headstrong daughter, Alvean, and knew why the three governesses before her had left the eerie mansion.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Martha began to be aware of an atmosphere of menace. There had been whispers of past horrors, warning of violence yet to come—and now there were the strange accidents. It was madness to stay on.
But Con TreMellyn’s dark charm had overpowered Martha’s natural caution. Against her will she fest irresistibly drawn to the handsome, enigmatic master of Mellyn.
Now, even as she found herself being pulled deeper and deeper into a frightening web of unseen terror, she knew she could not, would not leave…
Kirkland Revels
Kirkland Revels loomed high above the wild and eerie Yorkshire moors like a brooding stone fortress. To some there was an atmosphere of evil about the place, but to innocent young bride Catherine Rockwell, the mansion seemed magnificently romantic. She did not know then of the terrible secrets imprisoned behind its massive walls. Or that at the moment she had entered her new home, she had crossed the threshold of terror . . .
Bride of Pendorric
Favel Farrington meets Roc Pendorric on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Capri, where she was raised and lives with her father. Roc sweeps her off her feet, taking her from her home by an emerald sea to the ancient family home of the Pendorrics, in Cornwall. His sister and her family await them with open arms, welcoming young Favel. She is the much anticipated Bride of Pendorric, a name that amuses and flatters her.
The castle is beautiful in its way, but the atmosphere is foreboding. Roc’s twin nieces begin watching her carefully; even the stones in the courtyard seem to have eyes. On the walls hang portraits of two other Brides of Pendorric—one of them Roc’s mother—who died both young and tragically. Favel’s fear increases as Roc seems to be growing more and more distant. Has her courtship and marriage been just a deception?
Soon Favel can no longer dismiss as accidents the strange things happening to her. Someone is trying to kill her and she must confront the very real dangers that surround her.
The Legend of the Seventh Virgin
According to the legend, six novices living in a Cornish convent strayed from their vows and were turned to stone. The seventh faced quite a different fate. Years later when the convent became the family mansion of the St. Larnston family, fate beckoned to another young virgin.
Kerensa Carlee was only a cottage girl, but she possessed great ambition and greater beauty — and she knew how to use them both. Working in the legend-haunted mansion as a lady’s maid, Kerensa began her perilous journey into womanhood. She stirred old memories and mysteries, and brought to that quiet corner of Victorian Cornwall moonlight madness and an ancient vengeance . . . .
Menfreya
For Harriet Delvaney, the great house of Menfreya, standing like a fortress on the Cornish coast, had always been a citadel of happiness and high spirits. Not until she herself came to Menfreya as a bride did Harriet discover the secret family legend of infidelity, jealousy and murder. And not until the legend seemed to come dangerously to life did Harriet begin to believe the old story that when the tower clock of Menfreya stopped, someone was about to die . . .
The King of the Castle
Dallas Lawson came alone to the legend-haunted chateau, the castle of the notorious Comte de la Talle, deep in the wine country of France. When she set eyes on the handsome Comte, she knew she would never leave willingly. What she didn’t know was that she might never leave …alive.
The Queen’s Confession
The unforgettable story of Marie Antoinette, from her pampered childhood in imperial Vienna, to the luxury and splendor of her days as Queen of France, to her tragic end upon the scaffold in the bloodbath of the Revolution . . .
The Shivering Sands
The new novel by the modern mistress of romantic suspense is set on the coast of Kent, at a great estate overlooking the infamous “shivering sands” – quicksands that have swallowed entire ships unfortunate enough to sail into them. Caroline Verlaine, a young widow, comes to work at the estate hoping to discover the cause of the mysterious disappearance of her sister, who had been studying the nearby Roman ruins. Caroline found her employers a strange family, haunted by tragedies of the past, scarred by distrust. Yet she found herself irresistibly attracted to them – especially to the family’s dark, moody young scion. But not until she had retraced her sister’s fatal last steps could she answer the crucial questions about the family’s past – and her own future.
The Secret Woman
To all appearances, Anna Brett was a quiet, capable young woman whose only ambition was to carry on the profitable antiques business bequeathed her by a spinster aunt. And so she was–until the memory of a cherished moment with a blue-eyed stranger suddenly returned to haunt her with savage intensity. It was then Anna discovered the secret woman who waited within her– impetuous, daring…and dangerous.
The Shadow of the Lynx
Nora Tamsin was fascinated by the ruthless Charles Herrick, but she discovered that he deserved his name “The Lynx”. His love for her was overwhelming and frightening. By the time she realized that his plan for her was part of his obsessive desire for revenge, it seemed too late to escape.
On the Night of the Seventh Moon
According to ancient Black Forest legend, on the Night of the Seventh Moon, Loke, the God of Mischief, is at large in the world. It is a night for festivity and joyful celebration. It is a night for singing and dancing. And it is a night for love.
Helena Trant was enchanted by everything she found in the Black Forest — especially its legends. But then, on the Night of the Seventh Moon, she started to live one of them, and the enchantment turned suddenly into a terrifying nightmare . . .
The Curse of the Kings
For centuries the tombs of the Pharaohs were haunted by a deadly curse. And when two eminent archaeologists have died mysteriously, Judith Osmond was certain that it was the curse at work. Then, overnight, her life changed.
There was an unexpected inheritance. Then Tybalt, a young archaeologist and the man she adored, asked her to marry him. But Tybalt planned a honeymoon amid the tombs of the Pharaohs, and suddenly it looked as if the curse of the kings had come to haunt Judith . . .
The House of a Thousand Lanterns
Jane Lindsay was fascinated by the idea of the house. Only it was miles away in the oriental port of Kowloon, and she knew she could never hope to see it. Now she’s the wife of a wealthy art dealer, the house threatens to shatter her peace as it guards a secret that Jane must discover.
Lord of the Far Island
The past is never far behind.…
Ellen Kellaway, orphaned at age five, was raised by wealthy cousins, but was never allowed to forget that her every advantage was owed to the charity of others. However, when the son of a powerful London family asks for her hand in marriage, her world is opened up to untold wealth and social position. She never imagined that such an unlikely dream would come true.
Despite these wonderful new developments in her life, Ellen continues to be wracked b the bad dreams that have haunted her since childhood. What is the meaning of the lifelong nightmare—the image of an unfamiliar room, a door opening and behind it a dreadful presence? Perhaps it is a message urging her to uncover the secrets of her long-lost family—the secrets of the ancient home of the Kellaways on the Far Island, off the wild coast of Cornwall.
The Pride of the Peacock
Victoria Holt demonstrates her mastery once again in her most exciting novel set in turn-of-the-century England where a young woman grows up in the shadow of the great estate – and privileged way of life – that was once her family’s birthright. But a unique inheritance compels Jessica Clavering to marry the owner of a fabled opal mine and leads her to faraway Australia. There she will discover the mysteries – and evil – surrounding the greatest opal ever found. There she must confront the danger that lust for the stone has aroused even in her own husband – and there she must find love.
The Devil on Horseback
Minella Maddox grew up on a great English estate. But as the schoolmistress’ daughter, her place was not, and never could be, at beautiful Derringham Manor. And that is where the trouble started, for Derringham’s young heir thought he saw in Minella just the kind of wife he wanted. But a dark and cruelly handsome French count, who always got what he wanted, thought she was just the kind of mistress he had to have. Not for nothing was he called the Devil on Horseback. Yet Minella’s humble heritage was to prove more precious that titles and riches, for it freed her to follow her heart, leading her into adventures and dangers she had never dreamed of. It put her directly in the path of another woman’s hatred, swept her up into the deadly terrors of the French Revolution and, finally, carried her into the arms of the great and powerful man she loved.
My Enemy the Queen
It was Lettice who married the Earl of Leicester, whom Elizabeth I loved. And it was Lettice who was the mother of the Queen’s beloved Earl of Essex. That young earl would one day break the Queen’s heart.
It was always Lettice, the constant spoiler in the triangle of love surrounding Elizabeth…
The Spring of the Tiger
When Sarah Ashington’s actress mother dies after a devastating scandal, Sarah is left at her long-lost father’s rambling, ancestral estate to face the disturbing questions of her own past. Then her father’s death draws her to his Ceylon plantation — and into the shadows of a legend from which their may be no return . . .
The Mask of the Enchantress
From the moment young Suewellyn caught her first glimpse of the Mateland family castle, she knew she had to possess it. But how could the beautiful illegitimate child ever aspire to such a dream? The answer lay in a perilous deception. Her masquerade succeeded — too well. Caught in a web of her own creation, Suewellyn found herself faced with a final, desperate choice between happiness and life itself . . .
The Judas Kiss
Pippa Ewell had left behind the dark and forbidding Greystone Manor — also the memories of Conrad, the handsome stranger who had swept her breathlessly into his arms and heart. But Pippa returned to find the truth behind her sister’s mysterious death. And suddenly the fairy-tale kindgom glittered with evil and danger . . .
The Demon Lover
When Kate Collison, to help her ailing father, completes his portrait of the powerful Baron de Centeville, her only thought is to be a dutiful daughter. But when the Baron presents her to Parisian society as the painter, Kate finds herself basking in the recognition . . . until she discovers that the Baron has plans for her — shocking plans that will change her life unless she can fight the Baron with his own weapons.
The Time of the Hunter’s Moon
Cordelia Grant wonders if she is dreaming after she sees a handsome stranger in the forest at the time of the hunter’s moon, when legends say a girl will see her future husband. Haunted by the memory of this mystery man, Cordelia begins a new life as schoolmistress at a girl’s academy and finds herself pursued by Jason Verringer, a dashing land baron with a scandalous reputation: It is rumored that Jason murdered his wife and mistress. But he has invaded her thoughts and is competing with the memory of the handsome stranger. Now Cordelia’s destiny depends on finding out the truth about two very different men . . .
From the Doubleday 1983 hardcover edition:
Legend beckons a romantic schoolgirl to await her future husband in a forest at the time of the hunter’s moon. When a handsome stranger appears, Cordelia Grant wonders if she is dreaming. But time will prove this fateful encounter to be all too real and far beyond the reaches of a young girl’s imagination.
Haunted by the memory of her mystery man, Cordelia begins a new life as schoolmistress at a girls’ academy. In Devon she finds herself pursued by Jason Verringer, a dashing land baron with a scandalous reputation. Cordelia knows she should despise the man who, it is rumored, murdered his wife and mistress. But to her dismay, he begins to invade her thoughts–and to compete with the carefully preserved memory of the fair, handsome stranger from her schoolgirl days.
In Victoria Holt’s newest page-turning tale of love and intrigue, her heroine discovers that people are not always who they appear to be. Good and evil wear many faces. Among them lurk two men. One is a murderer; the other is a lover. Cordelia’s destiny depends on finding both. From the ordeal will emerge a woman who has listened to her heart and has found true love.
Victoria Holt is a virtuoso storyteller whose prodigious output has given her grateful fans over twenty-five international bestsellers. THE TIME OF THE HUNTER’S MOON, once again, is a unique blend of spellbinding suspense and romance that has become a Victoria Holt trademark.
She’s a best-selling tradition. Her most recent book, The Demon Lover, is on its way to topping all her previous sales. Now Victoria Holt returns with a thrilling new historical romance set in nineteenth century England…
Cordelia Grant returns from an exclusive school in Switzerland to Devon to assume duties as a schoolmistress at Colby Abbey Academy. And there she quickly discovers that there are certain predicaments for which even an expensive education did not prepare her: what to do when she finds herself torn between duty and desire, caution and passion. At the heart of Victoria Holt’s suspenseful tale is the awakening of a young girl to womanhood…
Yet again Victoria Holt proves that she is the unrivaled mistress of romantic suspense–a novelist who, says Time magazine, “dominated the field.”
The Landower Legacy
Green-eyed Caroline Tressidor has the whole world at her feet. But at Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, Caroline lets slip a secret. It is nearly fatal.
Caroline’s promising future dissolves without her knowing why. Her search for answers violates the iron rules of Victorian society. It takes her to the wild moors of Cornwall and pits her against her shy, pretty sister.
It also brings her the man of her dreams, Paul Landower. . .dark, mysterious, trapped in his own past. . .a past that may include a legacy of murder.
The Road to Paradise Island
Annalice Mallory, the sheltered daughter of a family of map makers, discovers the cryptic diary of her long-dead ancestor that includes a map of a mysterious far-of island. Philip, Annalice’s brother, sets sail for the island, lured by the promise of incomparable riches to be found. But when he doesn’t return, Annalice sets out to find him — and the secrets of the diary — in a desperate journey that leads her through the worlds’ most exciting outposts . . . and finally to the tropical islands of the South Seas, where she encounters heart-stopping peril, but also the promise of love.
Secret for the Nightingale
As a young girl in India, beautiful, high-spirited Susanna Pleydell first became aware of her special gifts to soothe the sick. She put aside her dream of helping others when she met the dashing and sophisticated Aubrey St. Clare.
But Aubrey was not at all what he seemed. Back home in London, Susanna found that the man she had married had a weakness–for opium and the occult. Even more frightening was his strange association with Dr. Damien Adair, a powerful man with a sinister hold over her husband. . . .
When tragedy struck, it was Damien whom Susanna held responsible. Even as she fulfilled her ambition of becoming a nurse, following Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, it was Damien who haunted her dreams and filled her mind, who held the key to the most sinister secret of all. . . .
The Silk Vendetta
As long as she can remember, the exquisite Lenore Cleremont has lived at The Silk House, the luxurious English country estate of the wealthy Sallonger family. Neither a slave nor a servant, she has grown into a young woman who has shown promise as a dress designer. But she has also won the heart of the two charismatic Sallonger sons. Then tragedy strikes. And Lenore finds herself playing a central role in a drama that threatens to destroy everything she holds dear….
The India Fan
Beautiful Drusilla Delany had always been a sensible girl, the daughter of an impoverished vicar in Victorian England. But then she became infatuated with wealthy Fabian and Lavinia Framling–and inherited an extraordinary fan with a beautiful and fateful curse! A knock-out novel of mysticism and murder from the author of The Silk Vendetta.
The Captive
Rosetta knew little of life beyond the schoolroom…until she found herself shipwrecked off the African coast. Saved from the raging seas by the ship’s handsome, mysterious deckhand, she soon discovered her hero was fellow-Londoner Simon Perrivale, an infamous fugitive accused of murder.
Her hopes of rescue were dashed when they were abducted by pirates…and the lovely fair-haired Rosetta was sold to a Turkish Pasha. Locked away in his harem, she would risk her life to save her virtue — and to unravel the mystery that had wrongfully imprisoned Simon.
But though she plotted her escape from the exotic Middle East to the elegant mansions of London, Rosetta was still bound by a consuming passion that would forever make her love’s captive…
Snare of Serpents
Davina Glentyre’s happy young life in Edinburgh was shattered by her mother’s death and made even more unbearable by her father’s sudden marriage to her new governess. Her one joy was her friendship with a poor but charming student, Jamie, whom her father forbade her to wed. When her father suddenly died from arsenic poisoning, the means, motive, and opportunity all pointed to Davina herself. Alone, she escaped to the colonies in Africa. But with the Boer War came danger and the return of dark secrets from the past that threatened her reputation and her very life . .
Daughter of Deceit
Noelle Tremaston’s charmed yet unconventional life as the daughter of the infamous Desiree, darling of the London stage, comes crashing to a halt when her mother takes in a struggling ingenue and disaster strikes. Noelle flees to Paris where, on the eve of World War I, a bizarre twist of fate will lead her into unsolved mysteries — and the arms of love.
Seven for a Secret
One of the bestselling names in romantic suspense delivers a strong new story of scandal, suicide and seduction. Young Frederica is trying to adjust to her new home and school in Wiltshire. But secrets and sensuality are starting to stalk her.
The Black Opal
Abandoned as a baby, her exotic beauty prompted hushed whispers of gypsy blood. But lovely Carmel March remained shrouded in mystery….
When tragedy struck her adopted home of Commonwood House, little Carmel had been bundled off to Australia. Returning to England as a young woman, she became haunted by questions from her past, as well as the shocking revelation that she had been rushed from a murder scene those many years ago.
Yet she was convinced that the wrong man had been sentenced for the crime. Was the answer locked away in her childhood memory — or in the dark, secretive behavior of her old childhood friend, Lucian? And what fateful role did the opals — always present at crucial moments of her life — play? For only when she released the dark secrets imprisoned at Commonwood would she find the freedom to love….