The House by the Sea (Large print, Hardcover, Large Print edition)

To Clare Trafford, busy working on a biography of Joan of Arc, the charming coastal town of Port St Pierre seems like the perfect place to continue her research - and a welcome escape from her own crumbling marriage. Dominating the town and overlooking the bay is the Chateau des Moulins, home of the de Frigecourts, an aristocratic French family plagued by misfortune. When Clare discovers that the estate is built on the site of the St Joan's prison - and that the de Frigecourts are direct descendents of the Burgundian dukes - an ancient curse she had long dismissed as legend looms as deadly fact. The de Frigecourts' English nanny and their strange governess meet brutal deaths, while Clare moves ever deeper into the family circle. Enchanted by the three children and attracted by their father - the handsome brooding Laurent - Clare discovers that her own destiny has become inextricably entangled with the curse of the martyred Saint and the family she has befriended.