D. B. Wainfleet

Chapter Thirteen is ready for you, dear reader. Prepare yourself for a visit from Grandmother Letitia and her dog, Bertrand!
          
          ...
          
          “I see,” said Mrs. Sturtevant. “Did Miss Caswell also explain that, in the weeks prior to his untimely death, the Baron had reported his suspicion that he was slowly being poisoned by his servants?”
          
          There were audible gasps around the table. “Poisoned?” asked Mr. Witherspoon in disbelief.
          
          “Poisoned,” confirmed Mrs. Sturtevant.

I keep changing my mind on this chapter length thing, so I guess they'll just be as long as they need to be. Here's another bite-sized one for you. Fewer calories but same great taste!
          
          A sample:
          
          “The Eye of Shahvar has great power and Oristano knows how to harness it. It helps him to open his ‘mind’s eye,’” said Mr. Croydon, his excitement increasing.
          
          “Allowing him to communicate with the spirits,” said Miss Bischoff. “It was given to him by an unknown woman in the Kasbah of Marrakesh.”
          
          “It is unimaginably ancient, and its magic is difficult to control,” added Mr. Croydon. “The woman seemed eager to be rid of it.”
          
          “Of course she was!” said Miss Bischoff. “She was frightened by its power! Yet somehow she recognized Oristano as one who could master it. He and Dr. Zephyr have spent years learning its mysteries and proper use.”

Just an update... I'm going back on what I said about shorter chapters, so I'm reworking the last one and getting the next one ready. Won't be long!
          
          In the meantime, I've added some visual treats and some musical suggestions to help you get into an 1880s headspace. See what you think:
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1483403326-celestia-dodd-book-1-the-eye-of-shahvar-author%27s
          
          D.B.

New chapter is out today:
          
          “Miss Braddock doesn’t want to believe it was suicide.”
          
          “What then?” he asked loudly, suddenly angered by the conversation. “Are you suggesting that someone pushed him?”
          
          “No, Mr. Corbin, I didn’t say that. I…”
          
          “I didn’t push William out the window!”
          
          Celestia seems to have touched a nerve, but did Randolph Corbin kill his business partner in a fit of rage?
          
          This chapter was a little delayed. I'm trying to keep my chapters down to a more bite-sized length. Thinking of your busy lives, dear readers! Anyway, that meant reworking a previously written chapter into this one and the next. Hope you like it!

Chapter release day, folks! I hope you'll check out Chapter 10 in which Celestia confesses a lie, orders a very interesting item, and has a grim nightmare. Enjoy!

If you need a distraction from current events, consider stepping back in time to the New York City of 1889, where Celestia Dodd finally comes face-to-face with the strange occult practitioner who goes by the name "Oristano".
          
          “'I know they are simply nightmares,' she went on, 'but I can’t escape the feeling that this being might somehow find a way to cross the barrier between the realm of sleep and the waking world. Surely that isn’t possible, is it?'"
          
          "Oristano narrowed his eyes. 'I wish I could assure you that it is not,' he said simply."

The minutes ticked away while they waited with only a small commotion in the street to distract them, a hansom cab having swerved dangerously close to a glazier’s cart, causing tempers to flare. Inside Mr. Rossiter’s landau, the two impatient young women were beginning to formulate plans for what they would do if their friend didn’t reappear.
          
          “Do you think we should go in?” asked Bella.
          
          Read about Gerald's meeting with the mysterious Oristano in fresh, new Chapter 8!

Over lunch at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Celestia, Bella and Gerald devise a plan for investigating Oristano. Chapter 7 is out today!

“People are capable of terrible things, but by digging deeper into this matter you run the risk of implicating your suitor’s brother in a murder.”
          
          Will Celestia heed her father's warning? It doesn't seem like it! Where will this diversion take her? Chapter 6 is up today.

Extra! Extra! New chapter today! Read all about Celestia's first visit to the New York Dispatch. She's pinning her hopes on the newspaper and its publisher, Mr. Whittaker, to help launch her career and to kick off her investigation of the mysterious Oristano.