The Secret Chord

At a farmhouse inn tucked into a scenic corner of Vermont, a mysterious guest has checked in for an extended stay. Conor McBride, a tired-eyed Irish wanderer, arrives shouldering a violin, a duffel bag, and the burden of traumatic events he won’t discuss. His recent past is as hazy as his future, but the inn’s owner can relate to that. Kate Fitzpatrick has lived through her own share of trauma and uncertainty.

She’d once been an artist living in New York, but when her husband’s death and its tragic circumstances crushed her creative spirit, Kate left the city to start a new life. Five years later, her inn is thriving, but the ramshackle farm that came with it seems doomed to fail. Her long-term guest has the experience to fix it, and she’s willing to accept a little mystery in exchange for the help he offers. Gradually, the gaps in his past seem less important than the growing attraction between them, but soon Kate will face a reality she’s not prepared for; because most of what she believes about Conor McBride isn’t true, and the secrets he’s keeping are darker than anything she imagined.

He’s a man on the run, haunted by enemies he’s never met and his own destructive actions. Conor came to Vermont prepared for the deception he’s trained for, but Kate’s friendship and straightforward trust has an impact he never expected. Unwilling to lie and unable to confess, he hides behind evasions while an intuition of approaching danger whispers in his head.

What he’s left behind isn’t far enough back, and when it catches up to him Conor discovers he’s not alone in the crosshairs, because Kate Fitzpatrick has secrets of her own, and as it turns out, hers are more likely to get them both killed.