The Emerald Comb. Kathleen McGurl

       Some secrets are best left buried

      Researching her family tree had been little more than a hobby – until Katie stepped foot onto Kingsley House’s sprawling, ivy-strewn drive. The house may be crumbling today, but it was once the intimidatingly opulent residence of the St Clairs, Katie’s ancestors. Arriving here two hundred years later, emotion stirs in Katie, a strange nostalgia for a place she’s never seen before and when Kingsley House comes up for sale, Katie is determined that her family must buy it.

      Surrounded by the mysteries of the past, Katie’s past-time becomes a darker obsession, as she searches through history to trace her heritage. But these walls house secrets more terrible than she could ever have imagined and when forgotten stories and hidden betrayals come to light, the past seems more alive than Katie could ever have imagined.

       Moving between the 21^st and 19^th centuries, The Emerald Comb is a hauntingly evocative novel, perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Rachel Hore.

       The Emerald Comb

      Kathleen McGurl

       www.CarinaUK.com

       KATHLEEN MCGURL

      lives near the sea in Bournemouth, with her husband, sons and cats. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got side-tracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present, and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.

      When not writing or working at her full-time job in IT, she likes to go out running or sea-swimming, both of which she does rather slowly. She is definitely quicker at writing.

      You can find out more at her website (http://kathleenmcgurl.com/) or follow her on Twitter @KathMcGurl

      My heartfelt thanks to Leigh Forbes, Helen Walters, Jean Buswell, Fionn McGurl, Kate Long and Della Galton, all of whom gave me invaluable feedback on early drafts of this novel. Thanks also to my editor Victoria Oundjian whose input helped shape the final product. And to my lovely husband, Ignatius McGurl, for his general support and words of wisdom. He said he’d read anything I managed to get published – that has spurred me onwards throughout. Finally, thanks as always to the wonderful Write Women, whose support, advice and encouragement over the last ten years mean more to me than I can find words for.

      For Dad, who would have loved this book

       Contents

       Cover

       Blurb

       Title Page

       Author Bio

       Acknowledgements

       Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Endpages

       Copyright

       “To forget one’s ancestry is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.”

      Chinese Proverb

       “I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.”

      Abraham Lincoln

Prologue

       Kingsley House

       North