The lush Gothic drama of Crimson Peak meets the murderous intrigue of Knives Out with an LGBTQIA+ love story to die for from award-winning author KJ Charles.
Ableism, homophobia, references to sexual abuse (off-page).
Who will survive Lackaday House?
When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative’s remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn’t possibly get worse.
Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family—but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there’s no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house’s shadowy depths…
Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House—and live to tell the tale?
Taste the very first page
The gates were beautifully wrought iron, elegantly monogrammed with interlocking Ws. The motor-car’s headlights illuminated the black paint, the curlicues and details gleaming gold. It was an elegant, sophisticated gate. It was also twelve feet high if you counted the spikes, and it stood in a very solid brick wall that matched its height.
Zebedee Wyckham contemplated the gate and the towering wall, its top dimly picked out by the waning moon. He considered the bleak moorland through which they had been driving on the roughest possible track for hours without seeing evidence of human life. Then he asked the chauffeur, “Lackaday House, yes? Not Dartmoor Prison?”
“Lackaday House,” the man said, unsmiling.
“Right.”
Zeb had not been to Lackaday House before. Its owner was…
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