October 1925, Gloucester, Massachusetts: Holy moly, what a day! My name’s Lizzie Crane, I’m a jazz singer from the Big Apple, and I’m in a bit of a pickle. When my musician friends and I accepted this job to perform at a Halloween party, I never imagined I’d end up trapped in a cold, dark, spooky castle with a bunch of real-life witches, wizards, and ghosts––not to mention a possible murderer. And this morning I ab-so-lute-ly didn’t expect to discover the body of a woman who claimed to talk to spirits on the Other Side, dead from an overdose of heroin.

Last night when we arrived at this creepy place, a Ouija board predicted a murder would occur while we were here. The dead lady’s husband claims someone killed her, but I hope that’s not the case. Maybe she was on the needle and got more than she bargained for. Plus, I keep hearing mysterious voices talking behind the castle’s walls. I’ve got to admit all this weirdness has thrown me into a Lizzie-tizzy.

To make matters worse, I’m on the coppers’ suspect list because this is the second questionable death I’ve been connected with in only two months. In August, the saxophonist in our band was murdered on the first night of our stint at a posh party for a rich industrialist at his oceanfront estate near Boston. Why is death dogging me like this? I’m not a criminal, unless you count scoffing at Prohibition whenever I can get my hands on a good martini or a glass of brown plaid. And I’ve never aspired to a cop’s life of mucking about in dastardly deeds and bringing bad guys to justice. I’m an entertainer. All I want to do is make people happy.

There’s a bright side to this mayhem, though. On my last trip to Massachusetts I met a handsome, rich man who seemed to fancy me. Maybe I’ll have a chance to see him again while I’m here. The problem is, he’s a Boston blueblood from a very distinguished family and I’m the daughter of poor Irish immigrants from the Bronx. Life is de-fin-ite-ly complicated!

For the time being, I’m stuck here with all these peculiar people who may have malice on their minds, but I can’t let my fellow musicians see me rattled. It’s up to me to hold our little group together in tough times. If I’m honest, I have to admit I’m curious about all the strange goings on too. I mean, how often do you get to hang out with astrologers, tarot readers, mediums, psychics, and a bunch of other assorted occultists? Assuming I don’t run afoul of them or the police, I might learn things I wouldn’t have a chance to discover otherwise. Besides, we’re getting paid big money to play here, and the food and booze are top shelf. So, on with the show.

What the Walls Know, A Lizzie Crane Mystery #2
Genre: Historical
Release: November 2022
Format: Print and Digital
Purchase Link

In October 1925, four New York City jazz musicians known as The Troubadours travel to the neo-Gothic Halcyon Castle near Gloucester, MA, home of occultist Duncan Fox, to perform a week-long series of entertainments. Halloween is Fox’s fiftieth birthday and he’s invited twelve family members and friends––including an astrologer, a tarot card reader, and a wizard––to celebrate with him.

The activities at Halcyon Castle, however, prove to be anything but what its name suggests. On the first night a Ouija board predicts the death of Fox’s longtime friend Natalie Talbot from a heroin overdose. Her husband insists she never used drugs and suspects foul play.

Lizzie Crane, The Troubadours’ beautiful and talented chanteuse, begins snooping into the unexplained death after local police place her and her colleagues under house arrest. She learns the deceased was a medium, who swindled many grieving people by pretending to communicate with their departed loved ones on the Other Side. Natalie Talbot also made enemies among some of the guests gathered at the castle. Soon the list of suspects grows to include the medium’s lover, her cuckolded husband, and several others with vendettas to settle.

Natalie’s death isn’t the only mystery at Halcyon. The castle also has eerie voices emanating from its walls, a resident ghost, peculiar blinking lights, and secret passageways. As Lizzie pursues her quest into the strange goings-on, she discovers a plot to reap vengeance––and risks her own life in the process.

Meet the author
Skye Alexander is the author of nearly 50 fiction and nonfiction books. Her stories have appeared in anthologies internationally, and her work has been published in more than a dozen languages. In 2003, she cofounded Level Best Books with fellow authors Kate Flora and Susan Oleksiw. The first novel in her Lizzie Crane mystery series, Never Try to Catch a Falling Knife, was published in 2021; the second, What the Walls Know, was released in November 2022. Skye lives in Texas with her black Manx cat Zoe.

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