SECRET CHAMBERS: A Family Saga
  Love & Mystery in Old New York

“The unforgettable novel”

 LOSS.  BETRAYAL.  MURDER.
But, above all, LOVE.

Alan Varden  —  brilliant physician, expert anatomist and 19th-century pioneer in psychotherapy  —  uses his intellectual superiority as a protective wall between himself and the world.  He is afraid of life because it includes death, which took from him the person upon whom he most depended: his cherished grandmother, who raised motherless Alan and protected him from a brutal father.  Fearful of more emotional pain, Alan lives life at a distance, devoting his time to unlocking the secrets of other human hearts.

In thrall to his compulsion to solve mysteries, Alan becomes confidential homicide consultant to New York City’s corrupt chief inspector of police, who often uses Alan’s case solutions for blackmail.  Alan hates being indirect party to blackmail; but he cannot bring himself to forgo homicide investigation, because murders are the most high-stakes mysteries of all.  His most baffling case involves Judith Esmond, the enigmatic young married woman whose grave beauty pierces his soul.  He resents Judith for hiding her past, for being so adorably inscrutable in his eyes.  He conceals his infatuation as perilous weakness that exposes him to risk of devastating loss once again.

Dark secrets of the Esmond family are revealed as Alan investigates the murder of an unidentified man whose body is found in woods near the Esmond mansion.  Alan can barely believe facts that emerge — Judith and her family could be in great danger.  Alan must save them by learning every detail about the murder so he can manufacture a “case solution” that points away from his beloved and her dear ones.  As he draws close to the truth behind the murder, he also encounters truth about his own mystery-obsessed soul.

Alicia Hayes vividly depicts the complex humanity of her characters and their challenging situations.  The reader joins this suspenseful, poignant journey into the darkest — and brightest — sectors of the human heart.  

Secret Chambers can be purchased by going to amazon.com and searching for Alicia Hayes in Books.

“My stories are for you.”^TM