From the mistress of the modern Gothic romance comes a lively, uncanny tale of long-forgotten secrets buried in the shadows of an old Southern mansion. Houses of Stone is Barbara Michaels at her best: imaginative mystery brimming with delightful wit, blooming romance, and unearthly terror. Professor Karen Holloway travels to Virginia to search for the grave of Ismene, the mysterious author of a battered 19th-century manuscript. But eerie, inexplicable coincidences make Karen wonder if Ismene is desperately trying to warn her from the grave.