The World of True Sight by Laurie McDonald
BOOK 1 : THE WOMAN AT THE INN
An old-fashioned Victorian gothic mystery, where secrets lie beneath respectable appearances and love is seldom spoken of openly.
In the misty landscape of Victorian Scotland, a woman seeks refuge at an inn, carrying secrets that could destroy a family.
For Sylvie, a young Frenchwoman with an extraordinary and unsettling gift, the mystery is impossible to ignore. She can perceive things others cannot — feelings, memories and fragments of lives concealed beneath respectable appearances.
Inspector Ewan Reid trusts evidence, reason and very little else. Yet as their investigations draw them together, he begins to suspect that Sylvie knows more than she can explain.
Between an isolated castle, a troubled family and a past that refuses to remain buried, the two must discover the truth while navigating a growing attachment neither is quite prepared to acknowledge.
The Woman at the Inn is the first book in True Sight, a series of old-fashioned Victorian gothic mysteries blending supernatural intrigue, classical music, family secrets and slow-burning romance.
For readers who enjoy old-fashioned storytelling, atmospheric mysteries, a touch of the supernatural and a romance that takes its time to unfold.
BOOK 2 : THE HOUSE OF SILENCE
Some houses keep their secrets. Others are built upon them.
In the mist-shrouded landscapes of Victorian Scotland, silence can be more unsettling than a scream.
When a new mystery draws Sylvie and Inspector Ewan Reid into a world of hidden motives, whispered lies and carefully guarded secrets, they discover that the truth is rarely where one expects to find it.
Sylvie possesses an extraordinary gift: through blood, she can glimpse memories that the dead and living would rather conceal. Ewan, a man of reason and sharp observation, trusts only what the evidence can prove.
Together, they make an unlikely but formidable pair.
BOOK 3: THE GREAT FREEZE - A GOTHIC CHRISTMAS MYSTERY
The man beneath the ice has already had his funeral.
Christmas is approaching on the shores of a Scottish loch. The village is preparing for its Christmas hockey match when a body is discovered beneath the ice—a young quarry worker whose death was certified and whose grave should still be occupied.
For Ewan, the discovery begins an investigation that ordinary evidence cannot explain.
Returning from Paris to her grandparents’ castle at Cairnmore, Sylvie finds herself drawn into the mystery. A young vampire with the rare ability to read memories in blood, she can follow experiences no witness could describe. A damaged notebook and glimpses of the young man’s final days lead her towards a love kept secret, and choices whose consequences reach far beyond the grave.
Working beside Ewan brings its own uncertainty. They can discuss another couple’s hopes more easily than their own, but each encounter makes the distance between them harder to maintain.
Beyond the castle windows, snow falls, lamps brighten the shore and skates cut across the frozen loch. Christmas draws nearer as Sylvie and Ewan search for a truth that will require tenderness as well as judgement.
The Great Freeze is the third book in Laurie McDonald’s True Sight series—a gothic Christmas mystery set in Victorian Scotland, with a haunting winter atmosphere and a quietly unfolding romance.
BOOK 4: MOON DAUGHTERS
Two women with one face. A masquerade that ends in murder.
After months apart, Sylvie and Inspector Ewan Reid meet again at the opera in Dundee. Sylvie hopes for a little time alone with him. Instead, the evening brings an unsettling discovery: a French singer whose face is identical to that of her friend Eleanor.
When a masked charity ball ends in murder, a playful exchange of costumes leaves the witnesses certain of things they never truly saw. Ewan follows letters, payments and conflicting accounts; Sylvie enters memories that nobody else can reach. Their enquiries uncover the separation of two daughters—and a mother who has spent years trying to find them.
Meanwhile, the vampire Council offers Sylvie the training to understand her changing gift. Its conditions ask more of her than she first imagined, just as her attachment to Ewan is becoming harder to set aside.
From candlelit drawing rooms to winter seas and the quiet of a secluded monastery, Moon Daughters continues the True Sight series of atmospheric mysteries, with a touch of the supernatural and a slowly unfolding romance.
BOOK 5: THE ANATOMY OF A BITE
A murdered physician. A dangerous hope of more life.
Dr Frederick Lorne was already dying when someone killed him. His laboratory has been left with broken reference preparations, untouched instruments and a missing specimen case. Inspector Ewan Reid must discover what the physician had found—and why it mattered enough to steal.
The enquiry takes Ewan to Paris, where Sylvie is learning to command her extraordinary gifts. In borrowed rooms above Montmartre, they find a freedom Scotland has never allowed them: separate work, shared pleasures and time together without explanation.
But Lorne’s research has attracted powerful interests. Among those who know that vampires exist, the promise of more life is difficult to relinquish. Generosity has its conditions, and protection can become a claim upon the person being protected.
As Sylvie’s powers grow, desire and influence become harder to distinguish. Ewan can follow the evidence of a murder. What passes between them may prove far less certain.
The Anatomy of a Bite is the fifth novel in Laurie McDonald’s True Sight series, a gothic mystery romance set between winter Scotland and the streets of Paris.
BOOK 8: THE HOURS WE KEEP
A light on the headland. A body at the waterline.
Along a rain-dark Scottish coast, Sylvie and Inspector Ewan Reid see a lantern moving towards a secluded landing. By morning, a man lies dead beside his boat.
Their enquiries lead to Dunrath, a castle of candlelit rooms, music and generous hospitality. Its cultivated owner offers Ewan an unexpected reprieve from the illness that has shadowed their lives—and a friendship neither of them anticipated.
But Sylvie discovers a household whose comforts rest on choices less simple than they first appear. A young woman has disappeared, another quietly asks for help to leave, and the people who might explain Nicolas’s death have reasons to remain silent.
As the enquiry deepens, Sylvie must trust her own judgement, even when it brings her into conflict with the man she loves. Beyond Dunrath, Cairnmore waits above its dark loch, and a future she has already chosen is still waiting to be spoken aloud.
The Hours We Keep is Book Six in True Sight, a series of Gothic mysteries and supernatural romance set in Scotland.
BOOK 7: THE LADY IN THE GARDEN
A buried sword. A love that has outlived the centuries.
Newly married, Sylvie and Inspector Ewan Reid are settling into their home beside a Scottish loch when a medieval sword is unearthed at the ruined chapel of Dunvarroch.
When Sylvie touches its hilt, she sees a woman burying it beside a grave. For a moment, the woman seems to look straight at her.
Then the sword is stolen, and the keeper of the finds is discovered dead at the village landing.
While Ewan investigates the theft and murder, Sylvie follows a more disturbing lead: the woman from her vision is still alive. Lady Kerr wants the sword returned, yet has spent six centuries dreading what it might reveal.
Their inquiries lead to a collector’s private rooms, where Sylvie’s gift may make her more valuable than the sword itself.
The Lady in the Garden is Book Seven in the True Sight series, weaving Victorian mystery and vampire romance around the enduring love between Ewan and Sylvie.
BOOK 8: CONCORDIA VELATA & BEFORE THE FOURTH DAWN
Venice, 1899. In a world of secrets, even love can become an instrument of power.
When Inspector Ewan Reid is summoned to Edinburgh to investigate the murder of a prominent politician's secretary, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous world of political ambition, stolen correspondence and carefully guarded secrets.
Meanwhile, his wife Sylvie is enjoying a visit to her parents in Venice, where an elegant circle of art collectors and patrons takes an unsettling interest in her unusual abilities.
Behind the beautiful façades and cultivated manners lies Concordia Velata, a secretive society whose influence extends into the highest circles of European society.
As Ewan and Sylvie pursue their investigations, they discover that some secrets are more dangerous to uncover than others. And that the people who appear to hold the greatest power are not always those who make the decisions.
But there are other forces at work, and the consequences of their discoveries will reach far beyond Venice.
From the shadowed canals of Italy to the streets of Paris and the mist-covered shores of Scotland, Concordia Velata & Before the Fourth Dawn is an atmospheric Victorian gothic mystery of love, intrigue, betrayal and extraordinary devotion.
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