MARY FROZE. NOT BREATHING. The sound of horses and soldiers. Marching up the long hill to Towneley Hall. The late 1500s was a dangerous time for Catholics in England. Could the love and perseverance of Mary Towneley save her husband's life? Could she prevent the confiscation of the estate, home to the Towneley family since 1260? MEET THE VERY MODERN ADDISON SIMMOND Divorced and over 50 doesn't mean life should be boring, right? I have a great career as an epidemiologist, and great friends, but I can't just sit around popping chocolate-covered cherries into my mouth while writing reports on epidemics. Not that epidemics aren't interesting, they certainly can be! And not that I have any desire to abstain from chocolate, which is best with red wine. But, honestly, I rather need a shove off this not-quite-comfortable edge between what was and what can be. With an impulsive decision to trace my ancestry, I fly off to England to visit the historic Towneley Hall, in the lush hills and daunting mountains of northern England. There I discover a long-hidden mystery - a disappearing art collection. Curious about the fate of the art, I go to London, where I meet with Edmund Petersen, a curator at the British Museum. Edmund is very helpful and more than a little attractive. Well, umm, oh, yes...with more questions than answers, I follow the possible trail of the art to Antwerp. There my quest to solve the ancestral riddle collides with an unfolding high-stakes event. Someone does not want me to be here. All of my public health "detective" training will be needed to discern truth from lies. I'm in serious peril. And Edmund may be at the center of it all. The 1500s narrative of persecution and love weaves through the novel as Addie comes to understand the impact events centuries ago can have on the present. The historical people and places in Secrets of the Hall are real, as are the current places. You will enjoy 1500s Burnley, London and Antwerp, and may be surprised as those places are pulled into the present. Addie's adventure starts in Fort Worth, Texas, but that is certainly not where things end! Add in a bit of romance and suspense and the mystery deepens.