Book excerpt: A woman searches for her ailing aunt’s hidden riches in this “perfect blend of history, mystery, family secrets and suspense” (Kate Braithewaite, author of The Girl Puzzle). In 1929, Blanche Magruder lies alone in a home for the elderly and infirm without a penny to her name, suspected of being of unsound mind. Meanwhile, her house, a crumbling ruin in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC, is regularly ransacked by thieves looking for a fortune believed to be hidden there. When distant niece Margaret O’Keefe is made executor of Blanche’s estate, she becomes embroiled in the treasure hunt, embracing it as a welcome escape from her own financial and marital woes. But as Margaret continues to investigate, family mysteries begin to unravel. Soon, she begins to question whether Aunt Blanche is a senile fool, and whether she really belongs in the home. But can she find out where the lies end and the truth begins? Shrouded in gothic undertones, The Spinster’s Fortune is a strange and twisting journey through tangled webs of family deceit.