The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire: Book 2
Publication Date: June 28, 2025
She risks everything for the truth. He threatens her heart.
Athena Taylor realizes a life dream when she and her sister open the Darkmoor Bridge School for Girls at beautiful Thorndale Manor in Yorkshire. But the standing of the ancient estate is tarnished by the story of a convicted murderess who once lived there, and soon after school starts, one of the maids is found dead. Athena believes the maid’s death is connected to the murder that took place nine years ago, a crime of passion of which an innocent woman may have been unjustly convicted.
Athena’s determination to investigate both deaths puts her at odds with Ian Vernon, a handsome, talented architect who lives on a scrap of land next door. Thorndale Manor was Mr. Vernon’s birthright, but he was obliged to sell it after his father gambled away the family fortune. He harbors a grudge against Athena, the new owner, and he is firmly against her looking into the old murder case. His sister paid for that crime with her death and revisiting it, he tells her, will just stir up old wounds.
Athena refuses to give up. Although she and Mr. Vernon start off on the wrong foot, she is soon heart-thumpingly attracted to him, and their stolen kisses cause her to rethink her policy to never wed. But her sleuthing threatens to complicate everything. As the clues mount up against a growing list of suspects, Athena uncovers long-held secrets that threaten her bond with Mr. Vernon and put her own life in mortal danger. Can Athena solve the mystery and reconcile her feelings for her home’s former owner before a determined villain silences her forever?
The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire
Book 1 – The Mysteries of Pendowar Hall
Book 2 – The Secrets of Thorndale Manor
Book 3 – Danger at Darkmoor Park
Athena Taylor wants her school for girls to be successful, regardless of the history of the estate housing it.
Sidetracked by a horrible event, Athena dusts off her sleuthing skills to investigate the connection between the death of one of the maids and an almost decade-old murder.
As the second installment in The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke and Fire series, author Syrie James continues the story featuring the Taylor sisters. The Secrets of Thorndale Manor oozes with atmosphere. The Victorian-era conventions are integrated well.
Athena’s inquisitive nature puts her at odds with Ian Vernon, the brooding former heir of the estate. The author adds a nice slow burn of chemistry between the two that ups the stakes of the investigation.
As family secrets are unlocked, Athena finds herself stuck in a dilemma, facing a desperate killer.
The Secrets of Thorndale Manor takes readers on a romantic Gothic mystery filled with humor and wit.
SYRIE JAMES is the author of 14 critically acclaimed novels of historical fiction, romance, mystery and suspense, and young adult including The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, Nocturne, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, and Dracula My Love that have been international, USA Today, and Amazon bestsellers, and are published in more than 20 languages. Her books have been Library Journal Editor’s Picks of the Year, received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus, and won numerous awards including the Audiobook Audie, the Women’s National Book Association Great Group Read, Romantic Read of the Week (Barnes and Noble), Best Novel of the Year (Romance Reviews), and Best Snowbound Romance (BookBub).
A member of the Writers Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Dramatist’s Guild, Historical Novel Society, and Jane Austen Society of North America, Syrie has sold many scripts to film and TV, addressed organizations and literary conferences across the U.S. and in Canada, England, and Australia, and her stage plays been produced across North America.
