I stared at the photograph.

Mound of dirt in the background. A close up of my wrist and hand, holding something fresh from the ground and in need of a good cleaning.

It was the only reminder I had of the artifact I’d found.

I pushed back from my desk and moved around my office, passing the bookshelves to study the wood framed maps of Pompeii, Rome and Londinium.

Interesting that I’ve traveled all over the world, participated in all sorts of archaeological digs… only to find the bizarrest of artifacts in the mountains of North Carolina. Stranger was the way my supervisor, the lead archaeologist on the dig reacted when I showed him the gleaming gold sculpture that appeared by all accounts to come from the 12th dynasty of Egypt.

I thought my bosses at the Smithsonian Institute would have done cartwheels over the find, but they’d studied me with narrowed eyes, talked in whispered tones then pushed an NDA my way. I had the distinct feeling I’d upset someone.

So, I’d probably made the greatest discover in North America since the Kensington Runestones… but I’d been relegated to consulting on a text book the Smithsonian was publishing on the excavation of colonial forts on the East coast.

Fun times. No really, it was fun for me. As a historian, I enjoy working with all facets of history. I just wished I was in the field, not at my desk. It felt… very much like a punishment.

Only, I didn’t know why.

An Intrigue of Witches, A Secret Society Mystery Book #1
Genre: SFF Mystery
Release: May 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

National Treasure meets A Discovery of Witches . . .

Introducing the Secret Society mystery series, and kick-ass red-headed heroine Sidney, a Black historian poised on the brink of discovering her true past . . . and her hidden witchy powers!

Thirty-year-old Black woman Sidney Taylor is a talented early American history professor, working in fast-paced Washington DC, with her eyes on promotion. She’s also currently persona non grata. Who knew that making an inconvenient historical discovery would see her stuck at her desk, shuffling paper?

So when she receives an anonymous and very cryptic invitation to visit historic small-town Robbinsville, North Carolina and hunt for a missing archaeological treasure – with a million-dollar pay out at stake – it’s one she can’t refuse. Besides, her beloved grandmother lives in Robbinsville, and it’s been too long since she’s paid her a visit.

Soon, Sidney’s on an exciting treasure hunt, following two-hundred-year-old clues that lead her ever closer to the artefact she’s searching for. But what is the artefact? And why is Sidney starting to feel like she’s at the heart of a terrifying conspiracy she doesn’t understand?

The answer blows Sidney’s world apart, plunging her into a dark, glittering world of secret societies, ancient bloodlines, witches and magic, linked to an ages-old conspiracy that could destroy the very principles upon which America was founded.

About the author
Esme Addison is the bestselling author of the Enchanted Bay mysteries, the first of which was nominated for an Agatha Award, and the brand-new Secret Society mysteries which launches with An Intrigue Of Witches.

Esme lives in Raleigh, NC with her family and is a member of Sisters In Crime, International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Crime Writers of Color.