The Lady of Secrets

With the next installment in her Dark Queen series, Carroll continues in the world of Twilight of a Queen. Margaret Wolfe, the daughter of “mad witch” Cassandra Lascelles, has a dark past with her mother’s Silver Rose coven. It is 1605 and Meg has fought hard to forget her past and her mother, and become a daughter of the earth. But when Sir Patrick Graham comes to Brittany asking for Meg’s help in curing King James of a curse that bears her drowned mother’s particularly poisonous signature, Meg has no choice but to return with him to England, despite oblique warnings from Sir Patrick’s companion, Armagil Blackwood. In England, plots abound, and Meg struggles to learn who she can trust. Though the book can stand alone from the series, readers familiar with previous books will have an easier time understanding some references. Carroll deftly crafts her tale, lulling readers into false truths before yanking the carpet out from under them. Though the villains this time out lack that edge of Carroll’s previous evildoer, Catherine de Medici, this is enough fun to convert new readers into fans. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, the Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency. (Dec. 11)