A Bucket of Ashes
by P. B. Ryan

Summers at the Hewitts' sprawling Cape Cod cottage always prove bittersweet for governess Nell Sweeney, for it was here that she lost three sisters and two brothers—and gained a reputation as the best pickpocket on the Cape. At last, her dark past is behind her—but soon she'll learn that it's never too far behind...

Nell has proven herself a model governess in the years shes worked for the Hewitts. But now a terrible secret from her past—and the lurking suspicion that she might be carrying Will Hewitt's child—threaten to rob her of everything for which she has worked so hard.

But these problems pale when Nell learns that the body of her only remaining brother has been discovered—and that he was wanted for murder. Though Nell's attempt to clear his name starts in the criminal underworld, it will lead her to the top ranks of Cape Cod society...

Other Books by P. B. Ryan

Murder In the North End
A Gilded Age Mystery #5

Murder on Black Friday
A Gilded Age Mystery

Death On Beacon Hill
A Gilded Age Mystery

Murder In A Mill Town

Still Life with Murder

P. B. Ryan's Bio

Patricia Ryan, who writes the "Gilded Age" mystery series as P.B. Ryan, authored seventeen contemporary and historical romances before turning her attention to mystery and suspense. Pat's novels have been critically acclaimed and published in over twenty countries. Among the awards her books have garnered are the Golden Heart, the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, and Romance Writers of America's top award, the RITA, for Best Long Historical Romance of 2000 (for Silken Threads).

Pat also writes mainstream erotica for Bantam Books under the pseudonym Louisa Burton.