Stacie Murphy – författare

Alone and in a new, unfamiliar place, a young witch discovers a murderous plot to turn the tide of the Civil War—which also might be the key to getting her powers and place in society back, if it doesn’t kill her first.After using a forbidden spell to wring a confession from her faithless lover, young witch Joya Shaw finds herself stripped of her power and banished to the magical backwater of the Colorado Territory. But it is 1862, the American Civil War is raging, and going west doesn’t mean leaving the battlefields behind. When Joya arrives at a homesteader’s cabin and discovers the occupants savagely slain, she knows it is no mere murder: traces of demon magic cling to the bodies. When a Union patrol is later wiped out the same way, Joya begins to suspect that someone is trying to create a new weapon for the rebel arsenal. She gambles that thwarting the plot could be the key to ending her exile. But demon hunting is a dangerous game, and it’s all too easy for the hunter to become the prey. Trapped, Joya enters into an uneasy alliance with a demon. She must find a way to free herself or bend its power to her will. If she fails, she will forfeit not only her life, but also her soul—along with the chance to stop the tide of the war from turning in an unspeakable direction.

A historical mystery in the vein of The Alienist, in which a young woman in Gilded Age New York must use a special talent to unravel a deadly conspiracy.Amelia Matthew has done the all-but-impossible, especially for an orphan in Gilded Age New York City. Along with her foster brother Jonas, she has parleyed her modest psychic talent into a safe and comfortable life. But safety and comfort vanish when a head injury leaves Amelia with a dramatically-expanded gift. After she publicly channels an angry spirit, she finds herself imprisoned in the notorious insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island. As Jonas searches for a way to free her, Amelia struggles to control her disturbing new abilities and survive a place where cruelty and despair threaten her sanity. Andrew Cavanaugh is familiar with despair. In the wake of a devastating loss, he abandons a promising medical career—and his place in Philadelphia society—to devote himself to the study and treatment of mental disease. Miss Amelia Matthew is just another patient—until she channels a spirit in front of him and proves her gift is real. When a distraught mother comes to Andrew searching for her missing daughter—a daughter she believes is being hidden at the asylum—he turns to Amelia. Together, they uncover evidence of a deadly conspiracy, and then it’s no longer just Amelia’s sanity and freedom at stake. Amelia must master her gift and use it to catch a killer—or risk becoming the next victim.