Circle of the Lily

By using the elements of black magic and ancient curses, Jones establishes the sinister, riveting conflict between good and evil powers. The Circle of the Lily is an occult group of black magicians thought defunct until Claire St. John, a 35-year-old psychic counselor from Essex, England, finds a symbolic ring on a skeleton. Then her new tenant from America arrives, an appealing English professor named Dr. Michael Townsend, who casts a black aura like no one she's ever seen before. And when a ghost also moves in, dark secrets begin to unfold. Jones (Essence of My Desire) is especially adept at creating tense plots and authentic characters; most notable is the thoroughly wicked High Priestess Delilah Mason who seeks to reestablish the Circle and summon Michael as her high priest. With Jones's newest, that old black magic will have many readers in its spell. (Nov.)