The Winter of Apollo / Valeria Carneiro dos Reis (ePub)

In 1888 the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of King George I was a magnificent gala, attended by royalty and dignitaries from Britain and across Europe. Was it merely coincidence that the event coincided with the establishment of the British School in Athens? Kate and Andrew stayed on after the Jubilee, establishing the School as a centre of excellence for the historical and archaeological study of ancient Greece.

The following year an unexpected letter arrived from England. Their close friend Diana had married Lord Henry Tollemache, and she was inviting them to spend Christmas at his country estate. The letter explained that her new husband had made an extraordinary archaeological discovery at Stonehenge, he would like them to come and witness a spectacular astronomical event there in midwinter, then spend Christmas with them.

Intrigued, Kate and Andrew arrange to return to England, stopping off to see ancient stone ruins in Malta where Andrew's friend was excavating, then the mysterious monuments of the Morbihan in Brittany. Kate suspected she was following a path traced by the mysterious order she unexpectedly found herself part of.

Back in Britain, a sinister crime from the past intervened in Lord Henry's exposition at Stonehenge and the Christmas celebrations. Kate was exposed to a frightening series of macabre events which could not be explained by her scientific mind. A cursed past haunted their Christmas that winter "On an island beyond the land of the Celts, where the north wind blows".