The Mermaid's Pool

Peak District, 1813: In the blackened waters of the Mermaid’s Pool, a body lies dead. While foraging on the moors, local herbalist Isadora Sallow discovers the drowned heir to the local estate. She’s forbidden from being at the pool, but since her parents’ deaths, she has depended on its waters to make the remedies that keep her struggling apothecary alive. For Richard Bradbury, his heir’s death is the latest in a chilling pattern: generations of men all drowned in the same pool. To keep his estate, he must silence any rumors, and Isadora quickly becomes the scapegoat. Some call it suicide. Others, like the dead man’s brothers, hope it was an accident. But the village remembers an ancient tale: a mermaid who rises from the pool, offering unparalleled love to those with pure hearts—or dragging the unworthy to their deaths. To clear her name, Isadora must uncover what really happened at the pool, and reckon with a gift she’s not yet learnt to trust. But as Midsummer’s Eve draws near, there’s no telling who else may attempt to test the mermaid’s promise.