title: Stolen Remains: A Lady of Ashes Mystery
author:  Christine Trent 
description: <b>Christine Trent</b> lives in the Mid-Atlantic region with her husband, Jon, and five cats: Caesar, Claudia, Livia, Marcus, and Octavian. When she isn't writing, you can usually find her scrapbooking, planning a trip to England, or haunting bookstores. She is the author of the Lady of Ashes historical mystery series. Please visit Christine at www.ChristineTrent.com.
zlib_text: To Rene.  
  Here’s to our next road trip.
  
  ![](Images/image00202.jpeg)
  
   **Contents**
  
  Dedication
  
  Title Page
  
  1
  
  2
  
  3
  
  4
  
  5
  
  6
  
  7
  
  8
  
  9
  
  10
  
  11
  
  12
  
  13
  
  14
  
  15
  
  16
  
  17
  
  18
  
  19
  
  20
  
  21
  
  22
  
  23
  
  24
  
  25
  
  26
  
  27
  
  28
  
  29
  
  30
  
  31
  
  32
  
  33
  
  34
  
  35
  
  36
  
  37
  
  38
  
  39
  
  40
  
  41
  
  42
  
  43
  
  44
  
  45
  
  46
  
  47
  
  48
  
  49
  
  50
  
  51
  
  52
  
  53
  
  54
  
  55
  
  56
  
  57
  
  58
  
  59
  
  60
  
  61
  
  62
  
  63
  
  Epilogue
  
  Acknowledgments
  
  Credits
  
  Also by Nalini Singh
  
  Copyright
  
  1
  
  My mother vanished without a trace ten years ago.
  
  So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash from my father’s safe.
  
  The police came.
  
  The neighbors whispered that she was a thief.
  
  My father called her a bitch.
  
  “She’ll turn up, and when she does, I’ll have her in handcuffs!”
  
  That’s what he said. That’s what he screamed.
  
  He was right.
  
  It took ten years, but she has turned up.
  
  The police found her car in the dense bush of the Waitākere Ranges Regional
  Park four hours ago. She was inside. Well, her bones were anyway. Those bones
  were clothed in the remnants of t