The Rose in Darkness — Christianna Brand

While running for her life, a failed actress comes across a dead body

Sari Morne had a shot at stardom, a five-year deal with a European film studio, and a starring role in an Italian romance that was poised to become a classic. But the film flopped, and Sari wasted her big break, disappearing from the set to flirt with her new beau: Prince Aldo, heir to a dukedom. Three years later, she is washed up, and all she has left from her romance is a ring -- the tremendous heirloom diamond that the Duke's associates will kill to retrieve.

Sari is being chased by the Duke's henchmen when a tree falls across her path. She swaps cars with a man on the other side of the fallen timber, who is in just as much of a hurry as she is. When she reaches home, she realizes why. There is a corpse in the back seat -- a young woman, beautiful no more. Death is all around her, and Sari's only hope is to keep running.