The White Peacock // Cry of the Peacock — Mary Linn Roby

HER GLITTERING BLACK EYES WERE FIXED ON IRENE. “I WARN YOU NOT TO INTERFERE. YOU WILL LIVE TO REGRET IT!”

In the isolated manor house, the Stewart family are gathered like vultures at the bedside of its dying mistress. Irene has come to catalog their famed art collection and has unwittingly involved herself in the stormy conflicts of this violent and passionate family, despite the hostile warning of Senhora, Lady Stewart's jealous Portuguese companion.

Soon priceless objets d'art disappear, there is a mysterious fire, a brutal murder, and an undeniable assault is made on Irene's life. Whom can she turn to for help? Martin, the psychiatrist, so solid and reassuring? Or David, the impulsive grandnephew of Lady Stewart, to whom she is attracted, but fears to trust? But there is no time -- greed and chaos stir the growing danger and Irene knows that she must take a desperate gamble and reach out to one of these men, or be trapped in the deadly coils of some unspeakable menace…