The white peacock

Her glittering black eyes were fixed on Irene. "I warn you not to interfere. You will live to regret it!" In an isolated manor house, the Stewart family is gathered like vultures at the bedside of their dying matriarch. An outsider, Irene is there to catalog their famed art collection, but finds herself pulled into the stormy conflicts of this violent and passionate family, despite the hostile warning of Senhora, Lady Stewart's jealous Portuguese companion. Soon priceless objets d'art disappear, there is a mysterious fire, a brutal murder, and a terrifying attempt is made on Irene's life. Whom can she turn to for help? Martin, another outsider, the psychiatrist, so solid and reassuring? Or David, Lady Stewart's impulsive grandnephew, to whom she is attracted, but fears to trust? But there is no time—greed and chaos ignite the growing danger, and Irene must take a desperate gamble and reach out to one of these men...or be trapped in the deadly coils of an unspeakable menace...