Murder at the End of the World
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When the wife of a politician is murdered in the isolated port-city of Illdara, junior detective Allison Newberry is sent in to keep the case from growing cold. It's the assignment that no one else wants to deal with.
The case is immediately complicated by the nature of the city. Everyone is cold and unfriendly, unwilling to answer even the most basic questions from an outsider. Even the chief inspector is more concerned with Allison's eventual departure than with the actual outcome of the case.
To make matters worse, clues are scarce and little about the murder makes sense. No attempt was made to hide the woman's body, nor was her money or jewelry taken. The initial investigation turns up nothing but dead ends. Then a second victim appears: a homeless man killed in exactly the same manner. A single clue is left behind, the petal of a flower, which leads Allison to the darkest corners of the city.
The suspicion and paranoia, the empty buildings and empty streets, the whispers of strange happenings in the night, it's clear that something is wrong in Illdara. Somehow it all ties back to the murders, somehow everything makes sense, but Allison constantly struggles against the very nature of the city to try to find some clue, some shred of evidence that will bring the killer to light. Something is wrong in Illdara, something very wrong, and it may put Allison's life in danger.
Even so, murder has been committed and there's still a murderer out there who needs to be brought to justice.
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Eyes of Diamond, Hair of Gold
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Having finally returned from her first case, Detective Allison Newberry is immediately sent on to her next: the murder of a famed inventor. But she won't be solving this one alone. Another detective, the opinionated and unlikable Alistair Mooney, has been sent along as her assistant.
The murdered inventor, Gregory Williams, had surrounded himself with a technological world filled with his own creations, even going so far as to build a fake town to act as the outward expression of his personal obsessions. The few who live in the town full-time were utterly devoted to him, even as they despised each other, making it difficult to determine who might have committed the crime.
However, it is not the people or the town that make this case so bizarre. Living within the walls of the house are dozens of automatons, mechanical servants who will never grow tired and will never complain about any orders they're given. One automaton in particular, Maximilian, is far more advanced than any of the others, and even possesses the ability to speak in the voice of his creator.
Allison is suspicious of him, Alistair despises him, but it is not Maximilian that poses the greatest threat to all those gather for the funeral, but rather it is Gregory Williams himself...
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I was going to post more than this about them, but this post is long enough as it is. So, I'll save the rest for a later.