About this book:

Summoned back to the oppressive heat of Savannah by her grandmother Eleanor's death, investigative journalist Grace Calhoun finds herself the reluctant inheritor of the crumbling Calhoun estate, Belle Reve. Far from a simple inheritance, Grace is immediately drawn into a web of family secrets and a past her grandmother meticulously kept hidden. A coded diary and a faded photograph of Eleanor with an unknown woman spark Grace's journalistic instincts, leading her on a journey to uncover the truth behind her family's carefully constructed facade.

As Grace deciphers the diary and unearths a cache of unsent letters, she discovers a forbidden love affair between Eleanor and a woman named Rose Fitzgerald in 1950s Savannah. The diary entries reveal Eleanor's deep affection and her growing fear of her powerful and ruthless husband, Arthur Calhoun. Rose's letters, written from a place of isolation by the sea, paint a harrowing picture of forced captivity, orchestrated by Arthur to protect his reputation and control his family. Further investigation uncovers Arthur's discreet purchase of a remote coastal island and the suspicious "accidental drowning" of Rose’s husband, James Fitzgerald, paving the way for Rose’s disappearance and likely death.

Grace’s investigation stirs dangerous waters, attracting threats from those who prefer the past to remain buried. Faced with intimidation from the formidable Silas Montgomery Jr., scion of the law firm that aided Arthur Calhoun, Grace finds an unexpected ally in Elias Thorne, a historian dedicated to exposing Savannah’s hidden truths. Together, they navigate the city’s complex social landscape, uncovering Arthur’s wider network of complicity and the chilling possibility that Rose’s son, Thomas (Grace’s uncle), was also a victim of Arthur’s desperate need to erase the truth. Their quest for justice culminates in a public battle against the powerful forces that upheld Arthur’s legacy, forcing Savannah to confront its own uncomfortable past and bringing a measure of peace to the ghosts who lingered beneath the magnolia.