Before You Meet the Speakeasy Ghost, Let Me Catch You Up

There's a new mystery coming to Blackvale.

A 1920s speakeasy. A grand reopening. A singer who grabs the mic and — well. You'll see.

But before we get to The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting, I want to do something I probably should have done more of back in January when the first book quietly slipped into the world like a cat through a cracked window.

I want to tell you about Blackvale. Not in a formal welcome to the series way. Just — honestly, the way I'd tell a friend who grabbed a coffee and said, so what is this thing you've been writing? Because that's really what it is.

It Started With a Town That Felt Like a Secret

Blackvale, North Carolina sits in the shadow of the Blue Ridge mountains. About 3,200 people, if you count the ones who haven't left yet. Former gilded-age retreat, now running on heritage tourism, antique trades, and the particular charm of a town that has decided, collectively, to be slightly mysterious about its past.

Old families in crumbling estates. Newcomers restoring ruins into bed-and-breakfasts. A society that runs entirely on reputation, ritual, and the kind of rumor that moves faster than Wi-Fi. And fog. There is always, always fog.

I knew, when I first imagined Blackvale, that it was the kind of place where secrets don't stay buried — they just change shape and wait.

Perfect place for a detective.

Two Detectives Who Have No Business Being That Good

Cressida Vale came home with absolutely no plan. A restless mind, a string of career wrong turns, and a suitcase. She was supposed to stay at her great-aunt Sylvia's inn for a few months. Figure things out. Maybe finally stop taking jobs she didn't care about.

And then someone died at the Midsummer Feast & Fair.

Face-first into a trifle. Which would almost be funny if Aunt Sylvia hadn't immediately become the prime suspect.

Enter Miles Stone — Cressida's childhood best friend, the steadiest person in any room, and the last person who wanted to spend his summer investigating a murder. He's a Blackvale native. Came back for his own complicated reasons. The kind of man who notices the things no one else does: tone of voice, the way someone's shoulders hold tension, what people don't say.

Together, they are chaos and stillness. Fire and earth. A hurricane in heels and a man who is deeply, perpetually, affectionately exasperated by her.

They are also, I'll be honest, exactly the kind of friends I'd want in my corner. Which is probably why I invented them.

And Then There's Aunt Sylvia

I don't have enough good things to say about Sylvia Vale that would fit inside one introductory blog post, so I'll just offer you this: she knows everything about everyone in Blackvale. She wears bright florals and layered jewelry. Her kitchen always smells like cinnamon, cardamom, and butter. She keeps a collection of antique skeleton keys because every key opens something worth knowing. She is both the warmest and the most terrifyingly perceptive person in any room she walks into.

She is also, repeatedly, an absolute menace at the poker table.

You'll love her. I promise.

So — What Is This Series, Really?

Vale & Stone is a cozy gothic mystery series. Which means it has the warmth, the wit, and the cast of beloved recurring characters that make cozies feel like coming home — and it has the atmospheric gothic shimmer that makes you want to read it with all the lights on.

These are mysteries steeped in atmosphere. Foggy graveyards and candlelit libraries. Masquerades where every guest is hiding a mask beneath their mask. Old grudges and cryptic wills and the particular way that small towns remember their ghosts.

But at the center of every case is something very human: who people are when they think no one is watching. What they'll do to protect what they love. And whether truth, once found, actually sets anyone free.

That's the Blackvale I love. That's the Blackvale I want to share with you.

Ready to Start?

The first case — Murder at the Midsummer Feast — is available now. Cressida, Miles, Aunt Sylvia, and the whole eccentric, fog-soaked world of Blackvale are waiting.

And if you'd like a taste before you commit (completely reasonable of you — we all have TBR piles that require careful negotiation), I'm making the first chapter available. A little preview. A look through the window before you step inside.

More on that soon. Consider it your official invitation.

In the meantime — welcome to Blackvale. Mind the fog.

— J.P.

Murder at the Midsummer Feast is available now in ebook and print. Buy it here!