This book is my favorite of the three. Again, I'm drawn to Rachaela and like to see how she maneuvers the Scarabae clan. Her murderess daughter Ruth is running free in the countryside, spreading death. Along comes the white knight, Malach, to put right the wrongs. And dark Althene, with secrets all her own.

The 'vampires' in this novel are not the vampires we are used to in most tales. The Scarabae are a strange mix of power and decay. I've reread these books nearly every year since the mid 90's when I first found them. They are always fascinating for me, even with knowing what's on each page. Give them a chance! ( )

Following the events of Dark Dance, the Scarabae, along with Rachaela, move into a new house. Meanwhile, Ruth is wreaking havoc in London. I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Dark Dance since I never really cared for Ruth's character and wasn't particularly entertained by reading about her murder spree. The book became more interesting about halfway through once the new characters Malach and Althene showed up. We lose some of the mystery in this book compared to the previous as we are given more explanations about the existence of the Scarabae, but they are still pretty fascinating nonetheless. Tanith Lee's prose is as lush and dreamy as always. ( )