Lady Bernhardt’s diamond necklace is stolen. More jewelry is missing.
Suspicions and accusations fly among the passengers of the ship Garipoola.
Then the thief dies in a freak accident, proof of his theft in hand.
Will Isabella locate his accomplice and the missing jewelry before they reach the next port?
“Silver Web” is the fourth short story in the collection Sailing with Mystery, published on this date in 2023.
The collection continues the mystery adventures of the artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant, featured in the Into Death series. Her introduction is in the novel Digging into Death.
Read the opening two sections of the short story at this link (and purchase the story here, too!) :
For years, Beren has defended Caldew Keep. Then the Watrani horde, allied with the Gitane Witches, attacked southern Mullen and besieged the Keep. They seek the Eye, a crystal that increases a mage’s power hundredfold.
Beren and a chosen few must take the Eye to safety. Yet dangers come not only from the blood-thirsty Gitane and Watrani and the monsters of the Shadow Path. A traitor journeys with them, and not even a magical encounter with an enchanted man can defend them
And Beren discovers that the road of honor is littered with death.
A Green mage encounters a keep swordsman while helping a captive red wolf, one of the legendary Prica. While drawn together, Saisha returns to her forest tower. Hethan returns to Senric Keep ~ where he falls under a spell cast by the sorcerous dame Neehla.
The dame’s dark spells bring them back together. Can Saisha disentangle Hethan from the sorcery? Or will she be trapped and turned into a wraith while the dark dame inhabits her body?
The spies Rolf and Catal spent months in a Watrani garrison, hoping to discover OverLord Summa’s plans for his invasion of Frenc. When their cover is blown, they stumble upon a greater secret: the Kaerrefiorne, a blood-fed globe that will connect every sorcerous Gitane Witch across the vale of Sansward. They steal the last orb that will complete the arc controlled by the Kaerrefiorne and escape into snow-smothered Arlas—with Watrani soldiers and a Gitane WitchMaster in close pursuit.
When Catal is severely wounded, two clerics at a Protectorate temple outpost become the Frenc spies only hope. The half-trained mage Niijai senses the evil following the two men. Legeeta has only a prophetic dread that increases.
And the Gitane Witch Keipven has found their trail.
The Epic fantasy of Twisted Magic and Corrupted Goals
Tangled Spells ~ Collected books 1, 2, & 3 of the Fae Mark’d Wizard
Weave a Wizardry Web
A wyre pack hunts wizards in the Enclave. A forbidden linkage promises more power yet a dangerous enthrallment to a sorcerer. Can Alstera and Camisse survive the sharp blades of their chosen roads?
Dream a Deadly Dream
A lethal sleep-spell targets a fugitive comtesse. Wyre and wraiths pursue her. When a sorcerous plot weaves together past and present, dream and reality, can Alstera stop the nightmare that kills?
Sing a Graveyard Song
Can Alstera defeat the horrific Death-Walker before it takes yet another life? Or will wielding blood-magic against a blood-spelled creature force Alstera across the tenuous barrier that separates wizardry from foul sorcery? (Trigger Warning: suicide.)
Tangled Spells brings together the first dark fantasy novels of the epic Fae Mark’d Wizard.
Be warned. Morally ambiguous choices occur, foul sorcery is never completed defeated, and the protagonist Alstera struggles to avoid the taint of sorcery.
One Novella and 3 Collections of Short Stories: stories with the people and outlaws sheltering in Sherwood Forest f
firefly flying in green forest
rom the corruption of the leaders in the town of Nottingham and across the dales.
If you wish to read the stories in order, follow the order of the collections, with The Hooded Outlaw occurring immediately after the 2nd Collection of short stories.
1st Collection ~ Into Wild Sherwood
Dangerous Faeries Lurk in the Forest
all Covers by Deranged Doctor Design
“Tod the Fox and the Faeries in the Ring”
Never enter a Faerie Ring. The Faeries like to play.
When Robin Hood escapes a trap set by the Sheriff of Nottingham, he never expects to meet the love of his life, Lady Marianne d’Airsey.
Then a greedy baron and the crooked sheriff plot to steal d’Airsey Manor. How can Robin, Marianne, and his men prevent Prince John from granting the manor away from her family?
hazardous mysteries blended with historical romance.
Amateur sleuths solve Hazardous Mysteries in A Trio of Dangers,
a collection of three novels set in Regency England.
A serial killer stalks the idyllic countryside.
A vindictive French spy-catcher seeks the double agent who escaped him a decade ago.
A past murder comes to light after a dangerous arson.
The Dangers of Secrets
A baffling murder interrupts a charming romance in The Danger of Secrets.
Maddy Whittaker encounters secrets of family, secrets of the heart, and secrets of blood and pain, all served up for Valentine’s Day. Her flirtation with Gordon, Lord Musgrove, is a pleasant distraction.
Too bad for Maddy and Gordon that secrets can kill.
The Dangers for Spies
A cunning killer hunts the spies who escaped him.
Eugenie DesChamps wants nothing more than her paintings, her friendships in a bucolic English village, and her flirtation with Charles Audley. She wants to forget her past life as a double agent working for England.
The past is never forgotten. Tor the French spy who tried to kill her discovers her when he tracks down the English cryptographer Charles Audley.
Blood will be spilled before the past is purged.
The Dangers to Hearts
Arson uncovers a baffling murder from the past.
Agatha’s lover abandoned her a decade ago. Jess Carter barely escaped arrest for smuggling. Neither expects romance.
Then hatred burns into a fire in the night. The arson reveals an old murder. The vanished fiancé didn’t leave—he was murdered.
Who is the arsonist? Who is the murderer? Are they the same person? Or two separate people poisoned by hatred?
Will Agatha and Jess be destroyed before they can find love together?
Dangerous Gold ~ 