Rose Early is in England searching for her sister, Joan, who hasn't answered her e-mails or cell phone messages in a couple of weeks. Rose descends on the cottage of horror writer V.F. Drummond in the hope that he has some information about her sister's whereabouts. What she finds is a rather rude, middle-aged man who won't give her the time of day, so Rose winds up at the local pub to figure out her next move.

Vic Drummond is spending a quiet few weeks away from London and his public at his deceased aunt's cottage when a bold American walks across his bridge and into his garden. Thinking her a tourist, he blows her off and heads to the pub, where he's verbally accosted by the American woman for being so rude. Intrigued, Vic sits down and she spills her guts. He discovers she's the sister of Joan Early, a woman he spent a few nights with indulging in casual sex. It's obvious this Rose Early is convinced something terrible has happened to her sister, so Vic decides to help. It doesn't hurt that Rose is quite a looker.

Rose rents Joan's cottage at the Rose and Thistle Bed and Breakfast and discovers a hidden box of Joan's photos taken for the book project she came to England to work on. What Rose doesn't expect to find is that her super-cool, down-to- earth sister has stumbled onto an evil that scares the pants off her. Joan has scribbled all over Vic's latest horror novel and at the end of it she writes, "I believe."

Vic and Rose put their heads together and uncover an evil so powerful the townspeople may have succumbed to its power right there in their quaint little village in the Cotswolds. As the evil grows and people turn up murdered, so the attraction between Rose and Vic grows. Before they realize it, they're madly ripping each other's clothes off, several times a day. Between bouts of mad sex and the creepy scratches they find on each other, Rose and Vic slowly uncover the truth about the village church, its tapestry, a private sex club in London and what all of these things have in common.

I absolutely loved this story! It's witty, dramatic, laugh- out-loud funny, at times, and highly suspenseful. I couldn't put it down. Ms. Lawrence has a marvelous ability to write intense, fast-paced, short chapters that move the story forward brilliantly. This is the kind of storytelling we see on the BBC TV series Mystery. It contains paranormal events and loads of sensuality. A very highly recommended read.