A lowly Austrian secret agent almost prevents the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Tobias Ault, of Austro-Hungary's intelligence service, hears rumors Black Hand, Serbia's secret terrorist organization, plans to launch attacks against Vienna. He investigates and stumbles onto a new find: Black Hand intends to kill Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo. Alone, without the consent of his superiors, Tobias travels to the Bosnian city and soon finds himself pitted against Serbian fanatics with one end in mind - the death of the Royal Couple. A Dark happiness offers one part espionage, one part love story, and one part speculation of how seconds changes the course of history. Readers will find themselves transported back to the end of the Belle Epoque, the golden age of pomp, pageantry, and moral decay, blissfully unaware of an approaching maelstrom.

Those who enjoyed Joseph Roth's The Radetzky March, Taylor Caldwell's Answer as A Man, or Allegra Jordon's The End of Innocence, will recognize universal themes of duty, honor, sacrifice, and devotion in A Dark Happiness.