About This Book
Entwining past and present in a gripping and atmospheric novel, Patricia Hearst and Cordelia Frances Biddle unravel a real-life, decades-old mystery that has become Hollywood lore. Legendary newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst's castle by the sea, San Simeon, built for his film-star mistress Marion Davies, was a secluded, hedonistic playground for the rich and famous. And on a night in 1924, it was home to a suspicious death....
It was a posh San Simeon affair with an elite guest list in attendance, including Charlie Chaplin, John Barrymore, Elinor Glyn and film producer Thomas Ince. But the party took a fatal turn, and Ince died aboard Hearst's luxury yacht, the Oneida. The public pounced on the story, and rumors of wild, drunken behavior and sexual excesses abounded. But no one ever really knew the truth.
Now, a history professor is about to open a door to the past .... Catha Kinsolving Burke never imagined that her mother's last words could help solve a seventy-year-old puzzle. But when she comes to San Simeon and joins forces with an idealistic young lawyer, she discovers astonishing secrets about the elusive case, her family and herself.
