Darkwood Mysteries (1): The Thief of Faces

The Darkwood MysteriesEmily Darkwood is already resisting the expectations Victorian society places upon women of the upper classes when, in the wake of her parents' disappearance, she receives a strange and life-changing inheritance: a stone of amber that draws her into supernatural, cosmic, and criminal mysteries. Armed with this guidestone, her wits, revolver, sword-stick umbrella, and faithful servant-companion, the streetwise, scrappy, and young Jack Hobbs, Darkwood sets out to uncover the origin of the stone, its power, and its connection to her parents—and their fate. Yet dark forces circle the stone, seeking its power for themselves. Darkwood and Hobbs determine to stand against them in their relentless pursuit of answers, but in doing so, they risk everything they hold dear. The Thief of FacesWhy is Emily Darkwood keeping vigil at her friend's tomb? Darkwood hunts a killer with a gruesome signature mutilation. What does a murderer want with his victim's faces? With her suspect protected by his position in society, Darkwood and her servant-companion, Jack Hobbs, must confront him alone. Four dark-haired and dark-eyed women are dead. Will Darkwood become the fifth? The Darkwood Mysteries are a series of short-stories, novellas, and novels that can largely be enjoyed as standalone tales of horror and adventure from any point, or together in order as part of a deeper mystery.The Thief of Faces is a short story in the series.