Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

A best-selling author known for the “Dark-Hunter” fantasy novel series is claiming in a lawsuit that her husband, who has filed for divorce, and his assistant worked to sabotage her business and poison her over a period of years.

Sherrilyn Kenyon filed the lawsuit against her husband, Lawrence Kenyon, and two others on Jan. 7 in Circuit Court of Williamson County, Tennessee. It seeks damages not in excess of $20 million, according to the lawsuit.

The Tennessean newspaper first reported the claims this week.

The suit alleges that Lawrence Kenyon orchestrated a "Shakespearian plot" and "stood to gain millions of dollars upon her demise through life insurance and the value of her estate, including her copyrights and trademarks."

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha

The author became stricken with mysterious symptoms in the fall of 2014 then became more ill, the suit says. It alleges that after her husband filed for divorce in March 2018, tests showed she had high levels of lithium, tin, barium and thorium, and "it became obvious that they had systematically poisoned her since 2015."

Sherrilyn Kenyon "was unexpectedly stricken with a bevy of mysterious symptoms that her doctor could not explain" and was eventually bedridden, the suit alleges. Other symptoms in the following years included hair loss, extreme nausea and vomiting, bone loss and deterioration of her teeth, the suit claims.

Sharon Puckett, public information administrator for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, said Thursday that Sherrilyn Kenyon filed a report with the sheriff's office several months ago and it was assigned to a detective. "It's an open case," Puckett said.

Lawrence Kenyon, in a statement through his attorney, strongly denied the allegations.

"There is no question that Sherrilyn Kenyon is a brilliant fiction writer. It is apparent, however, that she has irreparably blurred the line between fiction and reality, and these astonishing and unsubstantiated allegations may stand as her best fantasy creation yet," he said in the statement.

"We do not know whether Ms. Kenyon truly believes these allegations or if she is using this newly filed civil complaint in an attempt to gain an upper hand in the parties’ ongoing divorce proceedings," the husband's statement said, adding that if there was any factual basis to the claims, charges would have been filed.

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s most recent book is "Stygian," which was released in August 2018. An upcoming book is titled "At Death's Door," according to her website.

A message left at a phone number listed in public records for someone who could be the assistant to Lawrence Kenyon was not returned.